Forever Loving Him
by Alex the fire girl
Summary: Alex(Rafe's sister) is a nurse at pearl harbor. basically what happens when she's there... i'm bad at summaries so please just r&r. Actually updated(amazing, huh? lol)!!!
1. Prologue--before talk of war

_Disclaimer_: I don't own any of the people that you recognize from the movie _Pearl Harbor_. This is the first fanfic that I've written. Please let me know what you think!

~Lauren

* * *

"Don't forget to send me mail, Rafe." The girl standing by the old yellow car was of medium height, scrawny for her age, and trying her hardest to put on a brave face as she looked up at her brother. It might have worked, too, if it hadn't been for the telltale brightness in her eyes and the way her chin trembled with the effort of holding back tears. "Don't you dare forget about me."

"I could never forget 'bout you, Alex," the older boy replied as he pulled her into a hug. It wasn't something he did often—teenage siblings didn't just _hug _to express themselves—and for a second he wished he'd told her more, showed her more, how much he cared about her. "You know that. I love you."

"Love you, too," she replied, her voice muffled against his chest. Her skinny arms clung just a little desperately to the person who'd always been there for her, no matter what. When their parents were fighting, when someone picked on her at school, when she did something wrong and needed help fixing it, she'd always been able to go to Rafe. He'd make fun of her for the mistakes, sure, but he never turned her away.

She didn't want to leave him behind. To be honest, she didn't want to leave _any _piece of her life behind—not their father or their house or the planes or her friends—but she knew that she'd miss her brother most of all. "I don't wanna go, Rafe."

"I know. I don't want you to go either, but we ain't got a choice," Rafe pointed out softly as they released each other. "We'll see each other again. You know I'm gonna look out for you always."

She nodded, her limp brown hair falling across her shoulders in long strings that she pushed back roughly as she turned to the other boy standing nearby. Even though she knew he'd probably just come over because hanging out with Rafe was what he did, plus it was the easiest way to avoid his drunk of a father, a part of Alex wanted to believe that he'd actually come to say goodbye to her. "G'bye, Danny Walker. I'll miss you, too."

"Don't you talk like you ain't comin' back sometime," he warned as he pulled her, a little awkwardly, into a hug. "You're comin' back to see us, right?

She nodded again, a determined look on her face.

"Alexia, get in the car!"

"Yes, Ma," she replied quickly, her eyes on the two boys. "I'll miss you both." She climbed obediently into the waiting vehicle as it roared to life; their mother never had been one for long goodbyes. As the car pulled away from the Tennessee ranch, the teenage girl looked out the back of the window and let the tears fall down her face as she got further and further away from her brother and best friend—and the only home she'd ever known.


	2. back to normal

Eight years later

"I can't believe we're going to see her, Danny," Rafe McCawley exclaimed, shaking his head at his best friend. He was practically vibrating with excitement as he looked around the Army clinic, too worked up by the thought of seeing his little sister again to even worry about the real reason they'd come—the physicals that were required of everyone before they could be accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps. Needles and probing doctors were nothing compared to finally getting to see Alex again.

When she'd moved away with their mother following their parents' divorce, Rafe had never imagined that it would be years, not months, before they'd be able to meet up again. They'd planned a few trips since then, but something had always come up to keep them from happening, usually financial issues. The trip from Tennessee to Massachusetts wasn't exactly a quick or cheap one. Rafe had never been a fan of writing—letters messed him up sometimes, and getting a letter done probably took him three times as long as it took most people—but he'd written to Alex, since it was the only way they could keep in touch. Still, it was a far cry from a face-to-face meeting.

For God's sakes, when he'd last seen her, she'd been thirteen years old, and now she was a certified army nurse. The thought of it—of his little Alex all grown up—still came as a shock.

"It'll be nice to see Alex again," Danny Walker agreed as he led them toward the booth to pick up their papers. He'd known Alex well when they were kids, mostly because she was shy and liked to stick close to her brother, but they hadn't kept in touch when she moved away. Sometimes she would say hi to him through her letters to Rafe, and Danny would scrawl a quick hello back on the bottom of one of Rafe's letters to her.

"I hope I recognize her," Rafe muttered to himself as he grabbed his papers. God, what an idiot he would feel like if he couldn't even remember his own sister! "But she couldn't have changed that much, right? It's only been a couple years."

"I don't know, Rafe," Danny replied. "She was still growing when she left. She might've changed a lot since then. In any case, we'll find her. Or at least, she'll find us."

Rafe chuckled, silently agreeing. On the ground, she'd always been ten times more observant than him. It was something he'd been teased about often when they were little. But in the air… in the air, he had eyes like an eagle.

Still, even though he knew it would probably be futile, he started looking for her the minute they entered the military medical center. "Help me find her."

"You might as well just stand in one spot and wait 'til she finds you," Danny joked as his eyes searched the quickly filling room. Nurses in their white uniforms bustled back and forth as they did their jobs, and he tried to scan their faces as they passed by. He and Rafe weren't the only ones looking; all the army hopefuls seemed to be eyeing the nurses, throwing out smiles and compliments to see who would take the bait, but not Danny. It wasn't his style.

"I don't see her," Rafe mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Does that honestly surprise you?" a teasing female voice asked from behind Rafe. Both of the men turned to see a tall woman in uniform with long brown hair topped with a nurse's cap and bright emerald eyes smiling brightly at them. "Good to see you, Rafe," she said in a voice almost like a whisper.

"Alex!" His eyes wide with surprise, he reached out and hugged her so fiercely that it knocked the wind right out of her. "You look… different," he commented, pulling away to look at her.

"I grew up, Rafe, that's all," she laughed. She no longer looked like a skinny teenage girl; she looked like a young woman. Her hair shone, her eyes sparkled, and, most importantly, she looked truly happy—she was beautiful.

"I'm gonna have to beat away the guys running at you," Rafe realized, almost looking forward to it. He wanted to finally be able to take on the role of a big brother again. He'd grown up defending her, looking out for her, and when she'd suddenly disappeared from his life that had been something he'd missed. Threatening the few boys she mentioned to him through a letter was nowhere near as satisfying as he imagined doing it in person would be.

Alex's eyebrows rose. "I can take care of myself, thank you," she replied. Then she noticed that Rafe wasn't alone. Next to him stood the man who had unknowingly held her heart in his hands during her teenage years. "Danny Walker, is that you?" Her lips, as if of their own volition, curved upwards at the corner in happiness.

"Hello, Alex," Danny replied, returning the smile. "I have to agree with Rafe on this one—you look different."

"You don't," she teased, but it was true. Little did he know that she was glad he hadn't changed. She had always thought Danny was absolutely perfect, with his tall, strong and lean build, messy brown hair, and deep brown eyes. That wasn't even mentioning the dimples and squinty smiles. She'd dreamed about those smiles as a teenager.

"Alex, we need you to cover the shots at desk three. Amy needs a break," one of the other nurses, a woman with brown curls and eyes as dark as chocolate, told her as she hurried by with a stack of files in her hand.

"Thanks, Evelyn. I'll be right there," Alex assured her friend before turning back to her brother. "I have to get back, but I'll see you later? You won't leave before we get to talk more?"

"Of course not," Rafe told her. He'd been looking forward to their reunion for weeks. There was no way a quick hug and a hello was going to be it between them. "I'll find you when I'm done."

She smiled wryly at him, her eyes sparkling. "I think we'll both be here all night if that happens. I'll find you." The three laughed, then Rafe and Danny went off to get their check-ups and Alex went to do her duties.

It was about half an hour later that Danny found himself at Alex's table to get his shots. She finished up the beefy redhead she was sticking while gently declining his invitation to dinner, and called the next man in to see her. When she saw it was Danny, looking unsure of himself like usual, she smiled at him. His shyness had always been appealing to her. "Hello, Danny."

He smiled slightly at her. "Alex."

She noticed something seemed to be on his mind and, her tone friendly, started to prod. "Is everything all right, Danny? You're acting a little strange. You're not afraid of needles, are you?"

Danny smiled, the dimples that had started Alex's crush years before appearing in his cheeks. "No, needles don't bother me. It's just Rafe… your friend helped him out."

"My friend?" she repeated as she readied the needle, flicking and keeping one eye on it as she looked at Danny quizzically.

"The nurse from earlier—"

"Oh, you mean Evelyn. Evelyn Stewart," Alex filled in for him as she stepped closer with the needle in her hand. "What did she do to help Rafe?"

"He was having some trouble with his eye exam…"

"Oh! Of course, the letters," she murmured as understanding hit. All of the pilots needed to take an eye exam to be allowed to keep their wings, and Rafe had always had trouble with letters.

"Well, he explained it to her and she passed him," Danny revealed.

"That's great. Evelyn's a real sweetheart, so I'm not surprised, but I am glad. I know how much Rafe wants this," she said. Flying was like breathing to him—it came naturally, and he needed it to survive. Some of her best memories were of him flying them around in their father's old crop duster.

"He's been talking about it since we were kids," Danny agreed.

Alex grinned, about to reply, when she noticed that a line was starting to form at her station. The man in the front, heavily muscled and frowning, looked like he was getting impatient. "Oh, um, I'm going to need you to drop your pants, Danny." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she found herself fighting back laughter. If she had known when she was thirteen that she would be saying those words to this man, she probably would have had a heart attack.

He looked a little uncomfortable but followed her directions, and she forced herself to be completely professional as she gave him the shot.

"All done here," she announced, putting the syringe into the bin to be washed. "You're lucky I like you, Danny."

He looked at her in confusion. "Excuse me?"

She just smiled as she stamped his papers to show that he'd been administered the shot. "Go out there and you'll see."

It didn't take long to find out what she meant. Three other nurses were giving the shot, and as he walked away from Alex's station, he caught glimpses of the process. It played out in a painful cycle: the men hit on the nurses, who then retaliated by stabbing the needles into their tender flesh. One of the women even looked like she kind of enjoyed it. Each thrust looked much more painful than Danny's had been, and he was grateful to Alex.

The day went by and after they were allowed to leave, Alex stayed with Danny and Rafe, getting to know them all over again. All of them had changed over the years, but the way they effortlessly fit together as a group was old and familiar.


	3. going away

**A/N: **Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed this and encouraged me. You guys are awesome and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

~Lauren

* * *

It was almost a month before any of the men began being sent away. Rafe, Alex, Danny, and Evelyn grew to be extremely close, since they spent most of their free time together. Rafe and Evelyn were romantically involved, starting the first day that they'd met when she'd passed him at the eye exam and had let him keep his wings.

Alex and Danny, on the other hand, remained single. Many of the soldiers had tried their luck hitting on Alex, but Rafe always kept an eye on her and made sure he kept good to his promise of chasing away her suitors. He warned a couple guys that if they ever hurt his sister, he would hurt them, and though they usually chuckled, most of them backed off. Danny was shy around the ladies, even the ones who did their best to pry him out of his shell.

One night while the four of them were out at dinner, the women noticed that Rafe was behaving a little strangely. It was almost as if he was nervous, but there was no reason for him to be—he was with his friends, enjoying good food.

When, as they were walking back from the restaurant, his weird behavior continued, Evelyn decided to just get to the bottom of it. "What's wrong, Rafe?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He shook his head, clearly intending to change the subject, but Alex looked up at him questioningly as well.

"Evelyn's right, Rafe. There's something going on with you. What is it?" Had he found out where they were going to be stationed?

"I gotta go away," Rafe replied after taking a deep breath.

It was his tone more than the words that made Alex's heart drop with sudden terror. She shot a look at Danny to see if he'd known, and the way he avoided her gaze was all the answer she needed.

Maybe it was because she hadn't known Rafe as long or as well, but Evelyn didn't understand as quickly. "We're all going away," she stated with a confused smile. "Probably to Pearl Harbor. They're going to send a lot of us there, people say."

"I'm going away tomorrow," Rafe amended, forcing himself to look straight into her eyes even when her confusion and fear hurt him like a physical pain. He needed her to know, to understand. "Not with you, and not to Pearl Harbor. To Britain."

Alex froze and stared at her brother, bringing their procession down the sidewalk to a halt. "What? Rafe, why… what?" she stuttered softly.

"It's… there's a real war going on over there, Rafe," Evelyn added, her voice shaking slightly. "You… you could be killed!"

"I have a duty to do this," he mumbled. "You have to understand. I don't want to stay here and not know what it's like to battle. I need to make a difference, and here I can't do that."

Alex let out a low breath, then silently shook her head and started walking away.

"Alex. Alex, wait!" he called after her, but she didn't slow down. He watched her go, wanting to go after her and wanting to comfort Evelyn. It felt like he was being torn apart.

"I'll talk to her," Danny offered, already following the younger woman. He wasn't thrilled about Rafe's new assignment, either, so he figured he could relate to her.

"I don't understand. You're a member of the US Army. How can they assign you to a British squadron?" Evelyn asked softly.

He'd been dreading this, knowing that it was coming, but he wouldn't be a coward. He'd tell the truth and deal with whatever she felt in response to it. "I… I volunteered."

She gasped, her face contorted in pain. "What? Rafe, why would you do something like that? Why would you want to go there and leave us all here?"

Rafe was desperate to make her understand—to make sure she wasn't mad at him when he left. "I can't wait around to do something about the war… I'm a good pilot, Evelyn. Flying's the only thing I've ever wanted to do. I can make a difference there."

"You could get hurt there, too," Evelyn muttered, her eyes downcast.

"Hey, don't be that way," he coaxed gently, raising her face with his thumb so he could look her in the eye. "I'll come back for you. I love you." She looked at him in surprise, a single tear tracing its way down her face, and he kissed her gently, wiping away the tear with his finger. "I do love you. And I'll go to Pearl Harbor for you when it's over in Britain."

"Rafe, I'm just worried…"

"Don't worry about anything. I'll come back for you, I promise." He smiled and kissed her again. "But I need to ask you to do something for me."

"Anything," she replied instantly.

"Don't come see me off tomorrow," he pleaded softly. "Saying goodbye to you once tonight is going to be hard enough."

Evelyn thought it over for a moment, hating the idea. If he was leaving, she wanted every second that she could have with him before then. She wanted her face to be the last one he saw as his train pulled away, the freshest in his mind. But if he didn't want her to go, then maybe she should just respect his wishes. Finally, she nodded. "If that's really what you want, Rafe…"

"It is, thank you," he whispered, putting his arms around her. "Come on, we better go on back…"

She nodded silently and they began to walk, her in his arms, wondering whether or not she would ever see him again after he left. She had an aching knowledge in her heart that hinted that she might not, and she hated it.

Far ahead of them, Danny was trying to coax Alex out of her silence but nothing he said was working. He could tell how much she was hurting, and he hated to see her this way. "Alex, please talk to me. Please? Come on, this isn't helping anything."

Finally she whirled to look at him, her emerald eyes flashing. "Why didn't you tell me, Danny? You knew. I know you knew. But you let us go on acting like everything was going to be all right when we don't know if my brother is even going to come back from this mission alive! It's war over there, and you knew he was going and you didn't tell me!"

"It wasn't what he wanted," Danny stated firmly. "He knew you wouldn't be happy. He knew Evelyn wouldn't be happy. So he made me swear I wouldn't tell either of you. He loves you both and wanted to tell you himself, and not until tonight so it wouldn't ruin your day."

"What about you, Danny? What did _you_ think about this?"

He stared at her angry face, but saw something more in her eyes. She wasn't just mad, she was scared for her brother, just like he was scared for Rafe. "Alex, you know I don't like it any more than you do," he told her in a gentle tone. "But you know Rafe. He wasn't going to listen to me about it. I talked to him this morning when he was told, but… he's stubborn."

"It's just… what if he doesn't come back?" Alex asked, her voice soft and scared. Her eyes were focused on the ground as they walked, and Danny could tell she was holding back her tears. He prayed that she didn't start crying; he'd never really been comfortable with a crying female, and didn't know what to do with one.

"He'll come back," he declared firmly. "Do you think he could leave you? And Evelyn? And _me. _Come on, we all know he needs me."

Alex laughed, brushing away the traces of wetness in her eyes and silently thanking him for pulling the laugh out of her—she'd needed it. "Yeah, I guess so. I just… I hate this. Everything. If people could talk their problems out—"

"Then we wouldn't need any of this," he supplied. "I know. I don't like it either. But we have to get through it. There's no other choice."

Alex nodded, and they walked in silence a few minutes before she broke the quiet of the night. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me realize that Rafe isn't to blame here, and that I shouldn't be mad at him," she answered. "And I'm not as scared as I was before. I just don't want him hurt, but I overreacted." She smiled slightly.

"You would've come to your senses sooner or later," he told her. "I know you can't stay mad at each other over something like this."

She smiled at him courageously. "So, Rafe knows where he's off to. Did anyone tell you where we'll be going? Do we have any clue?"

Danny looked down at her and nodded, deciding that he might as well tell her. "Yeah. Doolittle told me we're going to Pearl Harbor in two days."

"Hawaii. Should be nice."

"Yeah. It should be."

* * *

The next morning, Danny took Rafe to the train station. Alex stayed behind because she was on duty at the clinic, but she'd had a long talk with her brother before he left. They parted on good terms, exchanging promises to stay safe.

They'd barely stepped into the train station when Danny noticed the way Rafe kept glancing around. Amused, he smiled. "You told her not to come, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Then why are you looking for her?"

"Because if she comes when I asked her not to come, it means she loves me," Rafe answered. He was going to be boarding the train in less than two minutes; he had his tickets and everything ready to go, so he knew he should just stop searching for her, but he needed to see if she loved him.

The conductor gave the call to board the train, and Rafe and Danny stopped, putting Rafe's bags down. "That's a way of deciding if she loves you or not."

"It works. Listen, I need you to do something for me," Rafe began. "If anything happens to me, I want you to be the one to tell Alex and Evelyn. Make sure they're okay. I know they're both strong but… I worry about them anyway."

"You just make sure to come home for her. For Alex. For all of us."

"I will," Rafe told his best friend. "Just tell me you'll do it if you have to."

"Of course I will," Danny promised. "But you better not put me in that position, you hear? Just get it done and get back here."

Rafe smiled. "Those Germans don't have a chance when I want to get back to all of you. You'll be in Pearl Harbor tomorrow, right?"

"Right," Danny affirmed. "I'll watch out for them. Don't worry about a thing but getting back alive." The two hugged in a brotherly fashion. "Take care of yourself."

"You do the same," Rafe replied. He picked up his bags and climbed onto the train, easily finding his seat. He put his things away and sat down at the window, feeling the strange mix of anticipation and anxiety that came at the start of a dangerous journey.

That was when he saw Evelyn. She was standing just off the tracks, looking beautiful and scared as she looked around the station for him. His heart leapt at the sight of her. "Evelyn! Evelyn!" he yelled, banging his fist against the window. She didn't hear him. "Evelyn!"

With a saddened, helpless expression on her face, Evelyn turned away. She'd missed Rafe's train. Even though he'd told her to stay away, she couldn't. A tear rolled down her face as she realized what she'd missed—possibly the last chance she would ever have to see him.

"Evelyn!" Rafe tried once more, but she didn't hear him and she walked away. In any case, he'd seen her. He smiled to himself, and noticed the old man across the aisle watching him. "She loves me," he stated simply, leaning back to rest. His sister wasn't mad at him, his girlfriend loved him, and his best friend was watching out for them both. He didn't have anything to worry about except the war.


	4. new friends

By the next day when the group was on their way to Pearl Harbor, Alex and Evelyn had already written Rafe two letters, which they put together and sent off to the Eagle Squadron base in England. They didn't have a lot to say—not much had changed since they'd seen him last—but somehow it was better to write about missing him than simply missing him. Besides, knowing how long the mail took to get from place to place, it would be a while before he got the letters.

"He's going to be all right," Danny assured them as the boat neared Hawaii. He wasn't really as certain as he sounded, but they needed him to be the strong one.

"He better be," Alex stated as she lifted her head to look at the glistening water, refusing to show how anxious she was. "Because if he gets himself hurt over there after promising to come home safe, I'll never forgive him."

Evelyn smiled, but it was obviously forced. "You'd forgive him for anything."

She frowned stubbornly, as if she could will him to stay safe through sheer determination alone. "Not this."

"Look at all those sailors," Amy Madison squealed, walking over to them. Amy was one of the nurses who'd worked at the clinic with them. She was a short blonde with bouncy curls and brown eyes that took their time as they traveled over the ships filled with men. A brilliant smile took over her face. "Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun."

The men on the next ship on their right started to whistle and grin at the nurses, and Amy lifted her hand in a wave. Alex chuckled. "Is that all you think about?"

"Well, not usually. But I don't have anyone tying me down and… look at all of them, Alex! There are so many! And those are just the sailors. There are still the pilots—like you, Danny." She winked playfully at him. She'd tried a couple of times in the past month to catch his attention and knew now that nothing was going to happen between them, but it was still fun to flirt with him a little. If nothing else, she liked to watch him twitch and blush.

"I miss Rafe," Evelyn sighed. "He should be here."

Alex's hands tightened around the boat rail. "I'm serious, Ev. One scratch and I won't forgive him. I'll hit him, I swear I will."

"You're gonna hit Rafe?" Amy cried. "Why would you want to hit the cutie?" Evelyn frowned, and Amy quickly added, "I mean your cutie, Evelyn. He only has eyes for you anyway, you know that."

"I want to hit him for worrying us like this," Alex stated, her eyes now glued to the island as they approached it. It was really a beautiful place, the crystal blue water and sandy beaches, but she was too worried to truly appreciate it. Rafe probably hadn't even landed there yet and she was already fretting about him.

"Oh. I understand that," Amy agreed sympathetically. "But you two need to relax a little bit. Rafe knows what he's doing." As someone who'd seen the boys fly firsthand, she felt confident in saying that. Rafe was a terrific pilot.

"We'll try to relax," Alex told her seriously, pushing her sunglasses onto her face to cover her eyes from the bright sun. She was telling the truth—she would try. She very much doubted that she would succeed, but she would try. "It's what Rafe wants. We owe him that much."

"I know you're right," Evelyn agreed. "It'll just be hard. But I'll try."

Amy grinned. "Great! We're here!"

The ship docked and they disembarked to find transportation to the base waiting for them. Amy, Evelyn, and Alex were directed to the hospital for orientation, while Danny and the other men were told to change and report in.

Alex moved to follow the other women, then hesitated. Maybe it was silly, but in Rafe's absence Danny had become something like a security blanket. She was a little reluctant to leave him, though they had no other choice. "I'll see you later, okay Danny?"

"Sure, I'll see you," he replied. He gave her a reassuring smile before they headed in different directions.

The orientation was pretty much what they'd all expected, and afterward they were taken to their new home. The nurses' living quarters turned out to be a very nice house located close to the beach. It wasn't particularly large, but there was enough room for the necessities. Alex, Evelyn, and Amy were placed in the house with three other women: a perky brunette named Hayley Wheaton, a bookworm type named Wanda Maximoff, and someone even more boy crazy than Amy, Betty Busher.

"So, why is everyone here?" Hayley asked as a way of breaking the ice. "I mean, I know we all feel we have to—the men may fight a war and we have to help out somehow—but does anyone have another reason?"

"The men themselves are reason enough," Betty giggled girlishly, lying on her cot.

"I just wanted to help out," Evelyn and Amy put in together.

"Even more than wanting to help, I wanted to see my brother again," Alex revealed. "What about you, Wanda? Any reason?"

"I… I don't have anywhere better to be," she answered with a small smile. "I'm not missing anything at home. Hayley?"

"My boyfriend Levi is here," she replied with a large grin. "I couldn't let him go off and leave me at home so I just followed him. He flies. Does anyone else here have a boyfriend? Or a husband?"

"Me," Evelyn replied immediately. "A boyfriend, but he's not here right now. He's in the Army Air Corps, but right now he's in Britain, fighting. Rafe's a pilot."

"Britain? He's involved in that war? How brave," Betty sighed. "I've heard bad things about what's going on there. You have to be good to get sent out, otherwise it's a death mission." Realizing how pessimistic her statement sounded, she bit her lip and hurried to add, "But I'm sure he's a qualified pilot."

"He is," Alex and Evelyn stated at the same time, then looked at each other.

"Uh-oh," Hayley muttered. "Um, is there a competition between you for this guy?"

"No!" Alex cried, shaking her head. "Rafe is my brother."

"Oh," Hayley murmured, nodding her head. "That's good. We don't want you guys fighting over him. That would make friendships here hard."

"Yeah," Evelyn agreed.

"So do you have anyone, Alex?"

"No," Alex replied, shaking her head.

"Uh-hem… Danny," Amy whispered quietly to Evelyn, who giggled under her breath despite her attempt not to.

Unfortunately, Alex picked up on it, as well as the other girls, and looked at her friends with wide eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Who's Danny?" Wanda asked, intrigued.

"Why would you mention Danny when you talk about me and a boyfriend?" Alex questioned, raising her eyebrows at her friends. Danny wasn't a boyfriend to her. He meant a lot to her because of their history and he looked out for her—and there was the tiny issue of that old childhood crush—but their relationship had never been romantic.

"Well… he likes you," Amy replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Alex let out a noise of disbelief.

On the bed beside her, Evelyn bit her lip. "I have to agree with Amy."

Alex stuck out her tongue in a childish manner. "Traitor."

"I'm sorry, it's just what I think. It isn't a bad thing."

"Who's Danny?" Hayley cried.

"Danny is Rafe's best friend," Evelyn answered.

Wanda's eyes widened. "So your brother's best friend likes you?"

"No."

"I think he does," Amy threw in with a shrug. "But that's just me. Anyway, Danny is a real sweetie, and _very_ cute. He doesn't seem to have interest in any girls except for Evelyn, because she's Rafe's girlfriend, and Alex, so I think that means something."

"I grew up with Danny," Alex replied, a bit defensively. "He and Rafe were almost inseparable, and I always tried to tag along. He's so used to having something to do with me that it's habit by now."

"He goes out of his way to look out for you. He calmed you down when you found out about Rafe's mission, didn't he?" Evelyn put in. "He couldn't let you go away mad."

"Sounds like a little crush," Betty admitted.

"Oh yeah," Hayley agreed.

"You're all crazy."

"We'll see," Amy murmured. "For now, let's go out and see what this island is made of. We don't have duty until tomorrow, right?"

"Right," Wanda affirmed with a nod.

"Let's all get changed and go to the beach," Hayley suggested.

Everyone agreed, and the girls got ready for their first adventure as roommates. It seemed to Alex, Evelyn, and Amy that they'd made new friends and they were glad for it, but Alex and Evelyn were still worried about Rafe. Both wanted nothing more than to see him safe at home again.

* * *

Weeks later, word of the war worsening reached Pearl Harbor. Evelyn, Amy, Wanda, Danny, Alex, Hayley, Levi, Betty, and some of Danny's friends were all talking in a large group at the beach, listening to the radio, when they heard what was happening. They'd received letters from Rafe and each one helped make them feel better, but they always wondered if the newest letter would be the last.

The announcer on the radio spoke of how many British planes had been shot down in a recent battle while everyone who knew Rafe—Alex, Danny, Evelyn, Amy, and many of the guys around who knew him from Tennessee—listened with fear in their hearts.

Unable to help herself, Evelyn began to weep softly. Immediately, the girls started trying to soothe her.

"Shh… sweetie, he'll be all right," Betty cooed to her friend, her voice quiet so they could still hear the announcements.

"He's coming back to you. You said he promised, and he doesn't sound like a man who would break his promises," Wanda reminded her.

"He's not," Amy stated firmly.

"See… he loves you. He'll come back," Hayley tried.

"I know he will if he can," Evelyn said, sniffling, "but it's not all in his control. What if he doesn't come back?" She wiped at her eyes, trying to compose herself, but it was a lost cause. She already missed Rafe too much and now with this announcement… she was starting to believe that she would never see him again.

"Of course he will," Red, a friend of Rafe's, assured her. "You don't need to worry, Evelyn. He'll be back."

"I… hope so," she breathed.

Alex rose from her seat on the sand and walked away quickly, trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes. _Stop it,_ she silently ordered herself. _Don't be a big baby._ She stared straight ahead, pulling her shades over her eyes, as she headed for the house.

"Alex?" Danny's voice called out, and she knew that he was coming after her. He always checked up on her, no doubt to follow through with some promise Rafe had gotten him to make before he left. "Alex, are you okay? Alex!"

"I'm fine, go back," she called over her shoulder. "Really, Danny. I just… I can't… I need to be alone a while." With that, she increased her speed and was at the house in a matter of minutes. When she reached the door, she paused to look back at the group. Evelyn was being consoled by the girls, the guys sat still, not knowing what to do, and Danny was staring at the house.

Alex tried to smile—tried to show any positive action, really—but it was a futile attempt and she closed the door and walked into the bedroom. She tossed her body onto her bed and let out all her frustrations, half moaning and half sobbing into her pillow.

The truth was, she missed her brother. She missed him so much it hurt, and there was nothing she could do about it.


	5. finding love

That night, Alex didn't eat dinner with her friends like she usually did. When they went out after trying to talk her into it for almost an hour, she put on a long skirt and a sleeved button up shirt and went out barefoot to walk on the beach and think about Rafe, out there somewhere without his friends by his side. She remembered a line from his latest letter.

_"It's not easy making friends around here. I had a beer with a couple guys the other night. Both of them were shot down and killed yesterday…"_

All she could think was, _either one of those shot down planes could've held you, Rafe. You could be dead._

She hated herself for her thoughts, but she knew she wasn't the only one thinking them. Evelyn had broken down crying once more after the girls had returned from the beach, and she'd admitted before going to dinner that she still felt lousy but she needed something to do.

For Alex, things were different. She didn't want anything to do. She wanted to see her brother. She wanted him to be safe here with them, where she could hug him and hear him laugh and watch him make a sweet fool out of himself as he fell deeper in love with Evelyn. It was strange, to think that she'd gone years without seeing him before. Now it had been only months, but it felt so much longer.

She wandered the beach for hours in the moonlight, wondering if Rafe could feel how loved and missed he was by the people he'd left behind. She hoped so, hoped that maybe he could feel it and that it gave him strength.

Alex didn't know how it happened, but she somehow found herself walking to the men's barracks. All she could focus on was seeing Danny, who shared so many of her memories of her brother. Not caring that it was late, she found his housing and knocked.

After a minute, Danny opened the door, dressed for bed in boxers and a wife beater and looking confused. "Alex? What are you doin' here?" he asked softly, closing the door so he wouldn't wake up the other guys. The last thing he needed was to get an earful from everyone about going after Rafe's kid sister.

"I… I don't know," she mumbled. Now that she saw him, she honestly didn't know why she'd come.

"Are you okay?" he questioned, looking her over. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "What's wrong, Alex? You should be in bed."

"I'm not a child," she snapped.

He looked surprised; even when they were kids, Alex had never been easily riled. "I… I didn't mean that. I just meant—"

She sighed, shaking her head at her own bad mood. "I'm sorry, Danny. I don't know what's wrong with me. After listening to that radio bulletin earlier, hearing about all those planes that were shot down, I guess I'm just out of sorts. What if Rafe's was one of them? What if his is the next to go down? I hate that we're here and we can't do a thing to help him."

"I know," he assured her. "I feel just as helpless. And when I was listening to the radio announcement… well, my heart just about stopped. I don't want to lose my best friend any more than you want to lose your brother. But I think he's coming back. He didn't want to leave you, you know."

"I know. I just don't think I can take it. Can I… would it be okay if I stayed here tonight?" she asked quietly before hurrying on, "I don't want to be alone and the girls are sympathetic, but they don't know how I feel. You love him like a brother. You love him the same way I do. Can I just… can I stay with you?"

Danny looked back at the house and ran a hand over his head, knowing even as he did so that he wasn't going to turn her away. He probably should send her back to her own bed, and if anyone saw her in his they'd never let him live it down, but how could he possibly tell her no? She looked like a lost little girl, hurting and in need of comfort. "Of course, yeah. The guys are asleep already, so…"

"I'll keep it down." She didn't want to run into Danny's friends, either. "If they're all asleep, what are you doing up?"

He smiled wryly. "You're not the only one who couldn't take it," he said, opening the door for her.

She smiled back and entered the men's barracks ahead of him, grateful that he understood. The big room was dark and still, and filled with the sound of Anthony's snoring. When Alex's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she headed toward the only empty bed in the room, against the far wall.

Danny stopped a step behind her. "You go ahead and take the bed. I'll take the floor."

"I don't want to kick you off your bed," she protested in a whisper. "Danny, we can share. I won't take up the whole thing."

He hesitated, uncertain. It didn't seem proper, sharing a bed with a girl—especially in a room full of other men—but this was Alex, not some random nurse he'd brought home. She needed him. "Okay. You get in, I'll be right there." A little embarrassed, he grabbed up some of the clothes littering the floor and tossed them into the corner.

When he turned back to the bed, Alex was sitting at the edge of the mattress, staring at the pictures he'd taped up on the wall. The one that seemed to have grabbed her attention showed him and Rafe together by a practice plane the summer before. They were both smiling at the camera, and Danny remembered that Rafe had just told a stupid joke before their friend took the picture.

"I miss him," she whispered, slipping off her shoes and laying down.

He eased down next to her, trying to keep some distance between them on the small bed. "Me too, Alex," he replied softly. "Me too."

She offered him a sad smile across the pillow before closing her eyes, soothed by the fact that someone else who loved Rafe like a brother was with her. She was asleep within minutes, and after pulling the blanket up over her, Danny didn't take long to follow.

* * *

Alex woke up the next morning feeling warm, comfortable, and safe. It took her a moment to realize where she was—not locked in her little yellow bedroom in Massachusetts, not in the room she shared with Evelyn in the nurses' quarters, but in Danny's bed. In Danny's arms. It felt better, and more natural, than she'd figured it would have.

The morning was silent—Anthony must have stopped snoring sometime during the night—and Alex blinked away the just-awake haze to examine Danny's face. He looked different while he slept, more peaceful. Danny was a thinker, a planner, and even though he didn't always speak what was on his mind, she knew a lot was going on in there. Lately a good portion of that had been worrying.

But not right now. His face was relaxed, turning his boyish features innocent, and his hair was in even worse disarray than usual. For some reason she couldn't explain, his messy hair had always pulled at her heartstrings. Danny was a really good guy, and how he remained single was a mystery to her.

It probably wasn't a good direction for her thoughts to wander, she knew that. She'd spent years nursing a crush on Danny before she'd had to move away, and moving on from that hadn't been easy. It would be pointless to fall back into those old feelings. He looked at her as just Rafe's little sister.

She sighed, wondering why such a beloved part of who she was didn't seem like it was enough when it came to this one man.

Feeling her move against him, Danny slowly came awake. He took in the way she was tucked up against him, then focused on the quiet of the room and smiled. No one else was awake yet. It made him feel a little like a kid who'd gotten away with something sneaky. "Mornin'. Sleep well?"

His voice was a little gruff from sleep and the sound of it sent something—a shiver, or maybe a ripple of pleasure—through her. Alex mentally ordered herself not to act like a fool. "Morning," she replied in a quiet tone. "And actually yes, I did. I hope I didn't bother you too much."

He shook his head. "Nah. It was kind of helpful, you know?"

She smiled and stretched. "Yeah, I know. I better go before the guys wake up."

"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed, dragging himself out of bed. They silently went over to the door, which Danny opened for Alex. "Do you want me to walk you home?" He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. This hadn't been a date, for Christ's sakes! How stupid could you sound?

It was so Danny—thoughtful, kind—that she couldn't help smiling. "That's all right. I'll be fine."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course."

"Thank you, Danny," Alex told him. "You really helped me out last night. You helped me more than you could ever know."

"I'm glad I could do something," he replied. "Anytime you need anything—to talk about Rafe or just be with someone—you know I'll do whatever I can."

"I know." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "I have to go. I'll see you later." With a small wave, she began walking back to her house. If any of the girls had noticed that she'd been gone all night, they would be waiting for her with a thousand questions. It would be hard to dodge them, but she would manage.

After all, she'd just had her first decent night's sleep since Rafe left for war. She felt up for a challenge.

* * *

Alex tried to sleep in her own bed that night, she really did. She laid in the darkness and closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, but she couldn't do it. It was like she couldn't turn off the rotation of the wheels inside her head long enough to slip under.

Finally, frustrated, she slid out of bed, grabbed her coat from the rack by the door, and crept out of the house. The door creaked as it shut behind her and she waited on the front porch on pins and needles, straining to hear if any of the other girls had woken up, but everything was silent inside and she tip-toed her way onto the grass before she could relax.

When she tapped softly on his door and Danny met her with a knowing smile, it felt strangely like coming home. She didn't ask if she could come back the next day, and he didn't ask if she would. Somehow, they both just knew.

It became a routine for them, spending the night together in Danny's bed. Alex always came late, after all of their roommates had gone to sleep, and left early. It calmed them both down, especially on the days when they heard horror stories about the war.

They started spending more time together outside of the men's barracks, too. At night they gave each other comfort; in the daytime, when they were free to talk and laugh without worrying about being caught, they provided each other with companionship. Whenever they both had a free afternoon, it was common to see them at a booth in the diner or walking along the beach.

Sometimes the guys teased Danny about how often he saw Alex—most of them were convinced that there _had _to be something more than friendship going on between the two of them for Danny to commit so much free time to one girl—but he ignored the good-natured ribbing.

The women exchanged a lot of silent looks among themselves, but didn't say much. Evelyn felt that one comment could send Alex retreating—away from Danny and away from them—and the others agreed it was best to just stand back and watch as their friend became more and more attached to the cute flyer.

Saturday afternoons off usually meant a trip to the movie theatre for most of their friends. For Danny and Alex, movies weren't quite the escape from reality that they seemed to be for everyone else. The pictures themselves were entertaining, sure, but the news clips leading into the main show—clips highlighting the brave Americans who'd gone off to fight the war—were too difficult to watch. Hearing about it on the radio was bad enough.

So instead of joining everyone at the movies, Alex and Danny found a grassy spot in the sun where they could just relax together. She supplied the food and he brought the blanket, and they ate listening to the rustle of leaves as a soft breeze blew through the trees. Afterward, they both lay back to soak up the warmth of the sun.

"What do you think Rafe's doing right now?" Alex asked curiously.

Danny didn't even need to think about it. "Sitting in a plane somewhere, if he has anything to say about it."

She was quiet for a moment before admitting, "You're probably right. Is it awful of me to hope that he isn't?"

"Why would you hope that?"

"Because, if he's in a plane then he's probably in danger," she answered. "Chasing some murderous German. Being chased." She tried to imagine how that must feel, knowing you were being stalked through the air and that just one lucky shot could kill you, and shuddered. "I want him to be safe. I want him to _feel _safe."

"You want to know something about flyers?"

Alex looked over at him and nodded.

"We're crazy. No, don't laugh, I mean it." But he chuckled right along with her, relieved to see the light in her eyes. "Most people think flying's scary. Being up in the sky in a metal can… I guess it does sound like it shouldn't be possible. But for flyers—especially for Rafe—being in the air does feel safe. He knows exactly what to do up there, Alex, always has. If he's gonna be in a fight, I'd rather have him in the sky than on land any day."

"He's never been much good in a fist fight," she recalled. Rafe's height and the muscles developed from working to rebuild planes gave him the look of a fighter, but she'd always known better.

"He can hold his own," Danny replied, feeling the need to defend his absent friend.

"Not like you." She said the words with such a simple knowledge that it made him glance away, feeling a heat in his cheeks. "But I guess when the two of you are together, he doesn't really need to, does he? You always have each other's backs."

He was silent, mostly because he didn't know what to say to that. It was true, had been since he and Rafe were about six years old. Theirs was the kind of bond that few people understood, but Alex did.

She leaned back on the blanket and watched the clouds that drifted lazily above them and went on, "I've never felt as safe as I did when I was a kid, following you and Rafe around."

"Really? Even when we took you up in your dad's plane and didn't know how to fly or land the damn thing?" he asked, laughter in his voice.

She smiled as she remembered the odd thrill that had gone through her when she'd heard Rafe yell out over the sound of the engine that they were going to crash. Nestled in the cockpit behind her older brother, she hadn't seen his fumbling hands gripping the controls or Danny's huge eyes as they sped toward the ground. She'd just known that whatever happened, they'd take care of her. "Even then. I just couldn't imagine a problem so big that Rafe or you or my parents couldn't fix it."

"Hey." Concerned by the tone of her voice, he nudged her playfully with his shoulder. "You know there still aren't many problems that big, right?"

"Maybe not," she murmured with a ghost of a smile, "but there are still enough to scare me. It's just the price of growing up, I guess."

"It's hard to be involved in the army some way right now and not be scared for someone. But just wait, when this war's over, Rafe'll be back and we'll all go home and things will be normal again," he told her. "Well, except maybe we'll have to make sure to see you more often."

"You'd better."

"You like it there, right? I mean, where you live now."

Alex opened her mouth to reply, thought about it, and sighed. "Sometimes."

He lifted himself onto one elbow so that he could look at her as he asked curiously, "Why only sometimes?"

She glanced at him—at the worry written across his face—and forced a smile. "No reason. I just wonder what things would be like if my parents had never gotten divorced, and mom and I had stayed with dad and Rafe and you. I suppose I spend too much time thinking over what-ifs."

Danny studied her face and said the words neither of them wanted to speak. "Like what if he doesn't come back?"

Her eyes bright, she could only nod.

"I like to think about the other side of the coin—what if he does?"

She laughed, close enough to tears that the sound was a little choked. "Then everything would be okay," she replied, scooting over on the blanket so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"So let's think about that. Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

When Danny got the order to report to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, he had the feeling that something bad was coming. Doolittle was a man he respected, an almost legendary pilot who'd trained a lot of good flyers—Rafe and himself included. He wasn't the kind of man to engage in small talk, and usually the only reason he called men into his office was to chew them out for something.

Since he hadn't done anything wrong that he could think of—and since Doolittle had been the one to give Rafe the news of his acceptance into the Eagle Squadron—Danny couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut as he entered and saluted.

"Walker, have a seat."

Silently ordering himself to keep it together and not vomit right there on the floor, Danny sat.

"You're listed as McCawley's contact," Doolittle said without preamble.

Danny's heart sank. But he stayed tall in his chair. "Yes, sir. Along with his father."

The older man nodded, having seen the Tennessee address clear in Rafe's file. "The men from the mission in Britain are on their way home," he announced. "We lost contact with them, so we can't say who's made it and who hasn't. We lost quite a few of our boys, some of them great pilots, but if McCawley is still alive, he should be here in about a week."

Danny felt like a sentenced prisoner who had suddenly gotten a stay of execution. He let out a sigh of relief, putting off all the horrible thoughts that had flashed through his mind—telling Alex and Evelyn, going home without his best friend, never flying on Rafe's right side again, never knowing with certainty that someone had his back.

"Thank you, sir," he breathed, hoping with all his heart that Rafe would be walking off the plane whenever it got to Pearl Harbor.

Doolittle gave him a nod and dismissed him, and Danny left the office feeling numb. He didn't even realize where he was going until he found himself walking up the steps of the nurses' house. Of course, he realized, that made sense; his relief that he wouldn't have to break Alex's heart by telling her Rafe as gone was almost as strong as his relief that he might still get his friend back.

It was Evelyn who answered his knock on the door. "Hello, Danny," she greeted, but something about the look on his face worried her, and she clutched anxiously at the doorframe. "Is something wrong? Is it Rafe?"

"Nothing's wrong," he told her. It had been weeks since her last letter from Rafe, and the fear was starting to eat at her, making her quick to jump to conclusions and very sensitive to news. "Well, not that we know of. They're coming back."

Pure joy replaced any bit of fear in her eyes and for the first time in weeks, she looked completely young and alive again. "Really?" she cried. "It's over?"

"The ones that are still alive are coming back," he corrected. "Evelyn, we don't know who's gonna be on that plane when it gets here. I don't want to get your hopes up, just in case something happened…"

"No! He has to be okay," she stated firmly. "He has to be." It was another first in weeks: she actually sounded sure that he was coming back to her.

He smiled at her. "You're probably right." _I hope you're right,_ he added silently. "Is Alex here? I want her to know, too."

"I think she went out for a walk on the beach," Evelyn answered. "She goes there all the time, even at night. I guess it helps her think."

Danny coughed softly at the news that Alex wasn't getting out of the house without being noticed. "Well it is a nice beach," he commented awkwardly. "I'll go find her."

"Danny, wait!"

He turned around to look at Evelyn. "Yes?"

"Thank you, for telling me," she said. "It means a lot to me to know they're coming back and the waiting's going to be over."

"You're welcome." The fact that Evelyn had accepted the news, or lack of it, so calmly somehow made him feel more confident, and he found himself smiling as he walked down to the beach to tell Alex.

Knowing her as well as he did, it wasn't hard to find her. She was in one of her favorite spots, sitting on a brightly colored beach towel that she'd draped over the rocks at the water's edge. Those rocks had cut her legs before, he knew, but she kept going back there anyway. Right now her head was bent over a piece of paper as she wrote out a letter in her clear, elegant script.

"Hi, Alex."

She spared him a quick glance from her letter, even drummed up a semblance of a smile, but the pen in her hand barely slowed. "Hey, Danny."

He nodded toward the paper. "You writing to Rafe?"

"Yes," she answered. "I woke up this morning with this strange feeling that something's happened. So as soon as my shift was done, I came out here and started to write… like if I tell Rafe about everything that's going on here, if I get the words on paper quickly enough, it'll keep him safe." She frowned, her hand clenching around the pen and crinkling the corner of one page. "But I still can't shake the feeling that he's never going to get this letter."

"When did you become psychic?" he teased, climbing the few rocks until he could take a seat at her side.

Instead of laughing, Alex looked as though she'd just been hit. Her face paled, her expression freezing in horror. "So he's… oh, God…"

"No! Shit, no, Alex," he declared firmly, wondering how he always managed to stick his foot in his mouth when it mattered. "Well, we don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"We lost a lot of guys from the Eagle Squadron, but the ones that made it are coming back—coming here," he rushed to explain. "The thing is, they lost contact before we could find out who survived. But if Rafe got through it, he'll be on that plane."

She closed her eyes and let out a relieved breath, leaning against him like all her strength had simply evaporated. "So there's a chance that he's fine."

He put a comforting arm around her and felt like an ass. He hadn't expecting telling Evelyn to go so much smoother than telling Alex. "Yes. I'm sorry I scared you, it just came out wrong."

She shook her head. "It's all right. I'm just a little on edge because of everything. And now the talk of war with Japan…" She sighed. The rumors about the possible war with Japan were making everyone jumpy, but the U.S. was working on peace with them and she had to hope it would be successful. "The only thing I'm sure of is that I want it to end. Did you tell Ev?"

"Yeah, I saw her at the house. She took it surprisingly well," he declared. "She's surer than I am that Rafe's coming back. She also knows something else… that you 'go to the beach a lot at night.'"

Alex laughed guiltily. "Um, Hayley saw me leaving the other night when Levi dropped her off. I had to come up with something, so I said I was going to the beach to think."

"She bought that?"

She shrugged. "I do it often enough during the day to make it believable. Besides, I think her mind was still on Levi and their date. She didn't ask as many questions as she normally would."

"Guess it's lucky for us that they're crazy about each other."

She murmured her agreement.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be as in love as Levi and Hayley or Evelyn and Rafe?" Danny inquired.

"Sure," Alex answered without hesitation. She looked over at him, her eyes flirting with his for only a moment before flitting away, and felt her cheeks heat with color. Despite what her friends might think, she wasn't completely ignorant of her own feelings. She knew that the way she felt for Danny had changed, evolving into something more than simple friendship. Maybe it was stupid and maybe it was entirely one-sided, but she couldn't help it any more than she could stop the war. "I look at Evelyn and I see how much she's suffering because Rafe's not here, and a small part of me feels almost jealous because I know that passion like that is something special."

"Have you ever felt that way before?"

"There weren't any guys in Massachusetts that held my attention."

"That's not really an answer."

Alex silently cursed his brain as she looked at the water. "I don't know, Danny. Maybe. But I guess the important part is, no one's ever felt that way about me."

"Now that can't be true. You've had guys following you around with puppy-dog eyes since you got here," he pointed out, a little reluctantly. The line of men wanting to take her out didn't exactly thrill him, even if it was expected. She was a beautiful girl, and women were severely outnumbered by men on the island. She may not have paid any of them much attention, but Danny sure as hell had; he could probably pick each one out of a lineup.

"It's not the same thing. They don't even know me, and I'm not convinced they really want to."

There was an easiness about the way she dismissed her potential suitors that caused him to relax. "Then they're missing out."

Butterflies took flight in her stomach and she smiled at him, unable not to. Had it been anyone else, she would have said he was flirting with her, but with Danny she couldn't be sure.

And if anyone else _had _been flirting with her, she would know exactly what to say—how to deflect, to laugh it off, to get away. She'd been doing that for years. But Danny was the first guy she had ever wanted to encourage rather than turn away, and all her composed replies seemed to vanish into thin air.

So she did the only thing she could think of, which was get to her feet and jump over Danny into the sand, at the base of the rocks. "When was the last time you went swimming, Danny?"

He chuckled as he watched her trail her foot through the sand, a tall vision in her red bathing suit. "I don't know. It's been a while, I guess."

She was already heading into the water. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Grinning, he got up and jumped off the rocks, tossing his shirt into the sand and chasing after her. She squealed as she dove into the beautiful warm water, her heart pounding hard in her chest. Even though she was a decent swimmer, it didn't take long for Danny to catch up with her, snaking a hand around one ankle and tugging her back. When they surfaced, they were both laughing.

Danny reached up and pushed back a wet strand of hair that was clinging to Alex's face. Her eyes shone as she looked up at him, very aware that his hands had come to rest on her waist, bare between where her suit top ended and bottom began. "Alex…"

"Danny…" She giggled nervously, her eyes searching his, and he pulled her closer. Tentatively, giving her every opportunity to pull away if this wasn't what she wanted, he leaned down and kissed her.

The feeling of his lips against hers was like fireworks exploding inside her. She lifted her arms around his neck, pressing closer, and nearly melted when she felt his arms wrap firmly around her waist. In the clear blue ocean, under the bright Hawaiian sun, they lost themselves in each other.

They came back to shore when they heard other people talking and laughing further up the beach. Alex watched her feet as they climbed out of the water, but she glanced up from under her lashes when Danny reached out to take her hand in his. They were both smiling.

"Danny, what are we doing?" she asked softly, staring up into his eyes.

"I'm not sure," he confessed. "But… it feels right. It feels like we've been building up to this for months. My heart's pounding and I've never felt this way before."

She felt herself blushing. "Me neither."

They went back to the rocks to get his shirt and her towel, and Alex's mood was dampened a little when she realized that her letter to Rafe was missing and her pen was lying in the water. She spared a quick glance around for the paper before accepting that it was gone.

Behind her, Danny brushed off the towel before wrapping it around her shoulders. "You'll see him soon," he reminded her. "You don't need to write letters anymore."

She looked up at him and nodded, and the two of them walked back to her house, their fingers entwined.

"Alex?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think about this… about us?"

She bit her bottom lip lightly, thinking it over. "Well, I think we should tell everyone or they'll get on our cases when they find out," she decided. "And I think things are going to be very different—better—from now on."

He grinned. "I think so, too."

Danny couldn't stay at the house for long because he was de on the runway, but the new couple did give the girls a chance to see that they were together. He and Alex didn't say anything at first, they just waited for someone to notice that they were holding hands and keeping close.

Amy saw it immediately. "You two are… I knew it!" she cried triumphantly, her brown eyes wide. "I saw it coming!"

Alex laughed, for once perfectly fine to be proven wrong, while Danny looked at her and raised his eyebrows. She supposed that she'd have to tell him sooner or later that Amy had thought right from the start that there was something between them.

"That's great, guys," Evelyn told them, but her voice was soft and both Danny and Alex could tell she was thinking of Rafe.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Betty squealed, rushing over to pull Alex into a hug. "You're adorable together."

Alex laughed, aware that her face was probably bright red. "Okay, enough. He has to go, we just wanted to see your reactions and let you guys know." She looked up at Danny. "We'll see you at dinner?" she asked softly.

"Of course," he replied, leaning down to kiss her once before, a little self-conscious, he smiled at the girls. "Ladies."

The women pounced on Alex before the door even shut behind him.

"You two just got together?" Hayley, spread out across the couch, asked.

"You weren't hiding this from us, were you?" Amy frowned.

"She wouldn't do that," Evelyn berated.

"How did it happen?" Wanda inquired.

"I bet it was romantic," Betty breathed dreamily.

Alex looked around as the questions and comments were thrown out and nudged Hayley playfully to get her to share the couch. The other woman pouted until Alex just lifted her head and let it rest in her lap, running her fingers absently through Hayley's hair in a way that always seemed relaxing. "Yes, it just happened. No, we weren't hiding it. It just sort of… happened, you know, on the beach. He came to tell me about Rafe and then somehow we were talking about love—"

Betty sighed, no doubt working up a beautiful mental picture of it all in her head.

"Then I went into the water and he followed me, and things just… changed," she struggled to explain. "I had a horrible crush on him when I was a teenager, but I never thought he'd look at me as anything but Rafe's little sister. But we were standing there, looking at each other, and suddenly I just knew."

"Knew what?" Wanda prodded, on the edge of her seat.

Alex shrugged. "That maybe my feelings weren't so one-sided after all."

"How cute," Betty cooed.

They spent the rest of the afternoon asking questions about Danny that Alex, glowing over the new changes in her life, was all too happy to answer. And for that period of time, they all forgot the potential dangers that surrounded them.


	6. rafe's return

It was exactly a week later when the plane carrying the men from the Eagle Squadron flew into Hawaiian airspace. As Rafe's on-base contact—he hadn't wanted anyone else telling Alex or Evelyn news about him—Danny was the one contacted, and he immediately went over to the girls' house. He felt so anxious, wondering whether his best friend would be walking off that plane or not, that it was all he could do not to shake with nerves as he knocked on the door.

Hayley answered in a white printed dress, struggling to slip into her shoes. "You're early!"

"I didn't know I was expected."

She looked up, a black heel in one hand, and laughed. "Sorry, Danny. Levi's supposed to be here in ten minutes. Alex isn't home right now."

"Do you know where she is? And what about Evelyn?"

"Ev's getting dressed and Alex just left… oh!" A thought suddenly hit her as to why he'd be looking for both women and her eyes lit up with interest. "Is Rafe's plane here?" All of the girls had heard so much about Rafe that they were dying to meet him.

"Should be landing in a couple minutes," Danny answered.

"Oh, that's so exciting! I'll get Evelyn." She ran to the bathroom and banged her fist on the door. "Evelyn! Hurry up and get yourself looking good! The plane is coming!"

"The plane's coming?" Wanda, sitting on the couch with a book, repeated.

"Yes!" Hayley squeaked, almost as excited as Danny was.

The door opened and Evelyn popped her head out, her hair not completely done but everything else about her appearance ready. "What?"

Danny smiled nervously at her. "Come on, Evelyn. Ready to see if he kept his promise?"

"Give me one minute," she said, rushing back to finish her hair. "Where's Alex? We can't go without her."

Wanda didn't hesitate to toss her book aside. "I'll go to the hospital and take her shift," she volunteered, jumping up. It only took her a second to retrieve her shoes and bag from her room. "Hayley, call them and have them send her home as soon as she gets there. I'll be there as soon as I can." As Hayley rushed to the telephone by the front door, Wanda turned to look at Danny. "Don't leave without her."

He hugged her impulsively. "I won't. Thank you for doing this."

"Of course." Wanda smiled and then she was gone, hurrying off to the hospital.

"I'm ready," Evelyn announced a minute later as she came out from the bathroom. "Do we have to go get Alex?"

"She just got to the hospital and they're sending her home," Hayley informed her as she replaced the receiver on its hook. "Just wait a couple minutes."

"I don't know if I can do this," Evelyn whispered, suddenly looking afraid. "What if he's not there? Maybe I shouldn't go."

"You have to see," Hayley cried. "For God's sakes, I'm tempted to go and I don't even know the guy. Evelyn, you love the man. If you don't go and he's there looking for you, think about how much that would hurt him."

Evelyn took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. I'll go."

"Of course I'm right."

It wasn't long before the front door burst open and Alex rushed in, breathing hard. "Okay, let's go," she exclaimed.

"Did you run the whole way here?" Hayley asked in surprise.

"Well, yes. We should be there when the plane lands. I don't want to miss it," she huffed, patting self-consciously at her hair to see if she'd lost any pins on the way home. Speed-walking in heels was hardly dignified and she was sure she must look like a mess, but she couldn't contain her excitement.

"You look great," Danny told her, as if reading her mind. "Sorry, we should've just stopped by the hospital to pick you up instead of making you run back here."

She gave him a fond, exasperated look. "Now you tell me."

He had the good grace to look sheepish. Honestly, in the hurry since he'd gotten the news, he hadn't done much clear thinking about anything.

"Good luck!" Hayley called as Evelyn left the house, followed closely by Alex and Danny, who had linked hands like they were giving each other support. "God, please let him be there. Those three will be broken-hearted if he's not," she whispered to herself.

"Evelyn, we need your opinion on something," Alex said when they were all in Danny's open-top Buick, driving toward the landing runway. The butterflies in her stomach were in full flight, and the only way she could sit still was to distract herself. "Do you think Danny and I should tell Rafe about us?"

In the back seat, Evelyn frowned. "Why wouldn't you?"

"I don't know how he'll react," Alex tried to explain. She and Danny had talked circles around when and how to tell her brother they were together, but they hadn't been able to come up with anything. "He's coming back from war. I just don't know if he'll be up to learning about the changes around here."

"It's up to you two, I guess, but I think I would tell him," Evelyn answered. "Do you really think he won't be happy for you? Alex, he's always looking out for you. I think he should be glad that he likes the guy you're with."

She considered that, biting her lip. It made sense when she said it like that, but a nagging in her gut told Alex that Rafe wasn't going to like their news. "Maybe…"

"Whatever you decide, we'll all play along with," Evelyn assured her.

"What do you think?" Alex looked over at her boyfriend with questioning eyes.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "All I know is that Rafe is real protective of you, Alex."

Remembering the men Rafe had scared away from her when they were in New York, she nodded. "Maybe we should just wait," she suggested, even if a little voice in her head called her a coward for it. "We'll tell him soon, but not until he's settled in here and the war is out of his system."

Danny seemed to hesitate a second, as if trying to figure out if that was really the best course of action, then nodded. "Okay."

"I won't say a thing. Just remember to tell the others so they don't accidentally let the cat out of the bag," Evelyn said. That was when she realized, with a happy flutter in her stomach, that they weren't talking in terms of "if Rafe comes back," they were talking in terms of "when Rafe comes back."

"We will." Alex's hands gripped her seat as Danny pulled the car easily into a parking spot and shut off the engine. They had reached the landing runway, where women, children, and men alike were all waiting for the plane so they could see whether or not their loved ones had survived the war.

Danny helped the women out of the car and they walked over to join the rest of the hopeful families. The three of them silently stood in a row and joined hands, Danny then Alex then Evelyn, as they waited for the approaching plane to land.

"He's in there," Evelyn whispered. "I don't know how, but I just _know_ he's in there."

Alex gave her hand a squeeze. "I think so, too."

It seemed like an eternity before the plane touched the ground and taxied around before coming to a stop. It felt like even longer before the side hatch of the plane opened, and men started to disembark. Evelyn held her breath as the first one, a short blonde she'd never seen who had his arm in a sling, stepped out into the sunlight. On their left, a petite woman holding a boy of about five let out an excited scream.

It was nice, to see the man smile and feel his wife's joy, but Evelyn just continued to hold her breath as Alex crushed her fingers in a powerful, nervous grip. _Not Rafe._

Another man slowly came next, taking his time on the steps and favoring his left leg.

_Not Rafe._

But she recognized the third man who stepped out of the plane even before she could see anything more than his silhouette against the doorway. His height, the way he stood, the way he moved—she recognized all of it, loved all of it. Her heart leapt in her chest, and she felt as though she might burst into tears when he moved down into the light and she could see his face clearly. Even from the distance, she knew the exact moment his eyes found her in the crowd, and they both smiled.

"Rafe." Evelyn breathed his name, that was all.

"Oh, thank God!" Alex sighed, feeling literally dizzy with the force of her sudden relief. She gave Evelyn's hand a last little squeeze and released her. "Go see him, Ev. We can wait." Especially since her legs felt like they might collapse beneath her if she asked them to do much more than support her weight right now.

Evelyn grinned and ran at Rafe as soon as he reached the ground. The nurse in her was visually sweeping him with each step she took, trying to figure out if he'd been hurt. She couldn't see any damage done, accepted her assessment when he was perfectly able to swoop her up in his arms.

"Rafe, I'm so glad you're here," Evelyn whispered to him, tears running unheeded down her face. "I was worried I wouldn't see you again…"

"I told you I'd come back to you," he replied, kissing her over and over again, holding her close. "Now we can be together."

She reached a hand up to caress his face, to reassure herself that he was real. "Yes, we can. I missed you so much, Rafe."

"I missed you, too," he told her. "The thought of coming back to you was about the only thing that kept me alive more than once. I had to see you again just once before I died. I couldn't leave you."

"Oh, Rafe." She kissed him again, and it felt like the pieces of her soul were finally clicking back into place after being scattered for months. When she pulled away, she laughed with uninhibited joy and swiped at her teary eyes. "There are a few other people who want to see you."

Rafe looked over Evelyn's shoulder to see Alex and Danny standing a few feet away. Danny was comforting Alex, an arm around her as he let her cry into his shoulder. "Alex…"

"Rafe." Evelyn stepped out of Rafe's embrace so Alex could hug her brother, which she did very tightly. Then she lightly slapped him on the back of the head, tears still dripping off her face.

"What was that for?" Rafe asked, half laughing.

"For making me worry about you," Alex muttered through her tears. "I love you, Rafe. And you're never leaving again. None of us could take it."

He laughed as he tugged playfully at the tips of her hair, the way he had to annoy her when they were little. "Not plannin' on going anywhere for a while, Alex."

She smiled at him and pulled away so Danny and Rafe could see each other. They shared a brotherly hug.

"Good to see you, Rafe," Danny told his best friend. "You had us all worried."

"It's good to be back," he replied before adding softly, so that neither Alex nor Evelyn could hear, "Thanks for taking care of them for me, Danny. I owe you one."

"You don't owe me anything," Danny assured him a bit uncomfortably, thinking of his relationship with Alex.

"You have a whole welcome wagon waiting to see you," Alex informed her brother as she wiped away her tears. "The majority of which you've never met."

"Uh-oh, why don't I like the sound of that?" Rafe asked as he put his arm around Evelyn and began to walk with them away from the platform. The occupants of the plane had all exited, leaving the wives and friends of those who hadn't made it back in tears. It wasn't something he wanted to see—or could handle seeing—right now. "Did you meet someone, Alex?"

"You could put it that way," she admitted lightly. Did it count as 'meeting someone' when she'd known her new boyfriend almost all her life?

"She just means that the girls we live with want to meet you," Evelyn covered for her. "They've heard a lot about you."

"Uh-oh," Rafe repeated. "Not good."

"It was good stuff," Alex laughed. "Mostly." She caught herself reaching for Danny's hand as they walked, and quickly dropped her hand back to her side. She and Danny had been a couple for such a short time, but she'd already grown used to their touches and habits. She'd have to be careful if they were going to keep this a secret for any amount of time.

"They're nice people, anyway," Evelyn went on. "Everyone wants to meet you—our roommates, Wanda, Betty, and Hayley, Hayley's boyfriend Levi, almost all the other nurses."

"So you like it here?"

Evelyn thought it over, then nodded. "I do. We have a lot more free time than I was used to when we got here, but the people are nice and it's beautiful here, obviously."

"Not as beautiful as you," Rafe told Evelyn, who smiled and blushed. "I mean it. I've missed looking at you."

"You're silly," Evelyn laughed, but it was obvious to everyone that she was pleased with the compliment.

Alex saw the looks that passed between Evelyn and Rafe, and she found it sweet. They had missed each other so much while he was gone… Alex knew that if the war did reach them, she would worry about Danny nonstop, and their relationship was so new compared to Evelyn and Rafe's.

Danny snuck a look at Alex, who noticed and smiled up at him. He smiled back, knowing that he couldn't touch her or kiss her but wishing that he could. From the very start, he'd looked at Rafe and Evelyn and considered their relationship as something to be aspired toward. Seeing them together now only made him want Alex more, so they could build on what they had, and he could tell by the look in her bright eyes that she felt the same way.

He realized with a pang in his gut that Alex wouldn't be slipping into his bunk at night anymore. Sneaking in with all the guys there was risky; sneaking in with her brother a few beds down was impossible.

"So what are the plans for today?" Alex asked. "Rafe, do you want to do anything in particular? Take a drive, go to the beach…" She shared a secret smile with Danny. _The beach…_

"The guys will want to get a beer with you tonight," Danny told him after pulling his gaze away from his girlfriend. "There's this club they found the other night for drinks."

"A good place?" Rafe wanted to know.

"I don't know," Danny admitted. "I've never been yet." Normally he would have checked it out with the guys, but they hadn't found the place until the first night he'd gotten with Alex and he'd already promised her a dinner date. There had been no way that he was willing to blow her off for guys and beer.

Rafe shot him a questioning look, but left it alone. "Okay, is it all right with you if I go out with the guys tonight?" he asked, his focus on Evelyn.

"As long as you're here, I'm not complaining," she responded. "I have to be at the hospital early tomorrow morning anyway."

"I should find out Wanda's next shift and take over it for her," Alex thought aloud. "Evelyn, make sure I do that later, okay?"

"Sure."

"You guys… probably want to be alone, huh?" Alex asked, watching the faces of her brother and friend. It was clear that they both wanted to say yes, but were worried about excluding the others. "It's okay," Alex assured them with a laugh. "We know you want to. Go ahead, and we'll see you guys later."

"Are you sure?" Rafe asked, feeling a little guilty. He didn't want his sister and best friend to think that he hadn't missed them, too, while he'd been away.

"Positive," Danny concluded. "Go have fun, man. You guys have been separated too long."

"Meet us at the house for dinner, though," Alex told them. "We can all go eat before your drinks with the guys. I'll tell the girls when I get back home."

"Okay, we can do that," Evelyn agreed, then went over to Alex and added softly in her ear, "Thank you. And don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't find out about… you know."

Alex smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks. Go have fun." She turned to her brother. "See you later, Rafe. I'm glad you're home."

"Do you want my car keys?" Danny offered. "You could go for a ride if you want."

Evelyn looked to Rafe and, almost in unison, they shook their heads. "No thanks, I think I want to walk around and see this place."

"All right, then we'll see you later."

As soon as Evelyn and Rafe were out of sight, Danny took Alex's hand and kissed her. She giggled as she pulled away from him.

"I guess it's safe to say this is as hard for you as it is for me," she observed. "When do you have to go in?"

"Three," he answered. "We're testing the new weaponry on the plane."

"Sounds like fun," she laughed.

"I'd rather be with you."

"I always knew you were a little crazy," she teased, pulling away from him and walking ahead. When he caught up to her a moment later slipping his arm around her waist, she leaned comfortably against his side. "What do you want to do until then?"

"How does the beach sound?"

She grinned up at him. "Perfect."

As a couple, Alex and Danny were fairly low-key, and the beach had become their spot—quiet and peaceful, where they could just be together and talk with the sound of the water behind them. Most of the time, they didn't even actually go in the ocean.

They hopped into his car and drove over to the beach, Alex giggling like a schoolgirl when he parked in the sand. The logistics of getting it out later eluded her, but she didn't ruin the moment by asking. Lying in the sun, they pushed back their seats and looked up at the sky.

"Do you think the war will catch up with us here?" Danny asked, looking sideways at her.

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

"It's just that every minute I'm not with you, it feels like we're preparing for the war. This seems about the least likely place for fighting, but I don't know," he went on thoughtfully. "Does that mean it's coming over here and they just aren't telling us?"

Alex frowned. "They would tell you if they knew anything, make sure we're as prepared as possible… don't you think so?"

"Probably," he agreed, pushing the thoughts from his head. "I was just thinking about it. Never mind." He scooted over in the seat and wrapped his arms around her. "It's not worth worrying about. We can't stop it."

"I like it here," she admitted, relaxing into his embrace. "I like living with the girls and having you—and now Rafe—close. At home it's just mom and my stepfather, and he's…" She trailed off, shaking her head, and picked up his hand in hers to toy with his fingers—something she did when she was nervous, or worried.

"What?" Danny prodded gently, sensing her hesitation.

She shook her head and smiled at him, but he knew her well enough to see that the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Nothing," she replied. "It's nothing."

But Danny knew it wasn't nothing, and he silently vowed to eventually find out what bothered her when she was at home.


	7. trouble in paradise

After Rafe's return, everything seemed to be as it should on Pearl Harbor. There was talk of peace with Japan, which put minds at ease, and the group had fallen into a normal routine of things, balancing work and play with startling ease.

It was difficult for Danny and Alex to hide their feelings for each other in front of Rafe, but they managed. Whenever he was assigned to work and they had free time, they were inseparable.

One day, when Rafe was scheduled to be running drills all morning, they went down to the spot where Alex had written her letters to Rafe. Seated on the hard rocks, with their feet dangling down just into the water, they enjoyed the private time together.

"I don't think I want to go home when this is all over," Alex announced quietly as they stared out at the slow waves that lapped across the shore. "The way things are going, I think Evelyn might move to be with Rafe. And besides, I've changed since I've been here, and I don't think my old life fits anymore."

"Alex, do you mean you would move to—"

"Tennessee?" she filled in for him, a smile playing on her lips. "I'm thinking about it. I would be by you and Rafe and Dad, and Evelyn too if she went… do you think it would be a good idea?"

"Are you kidding? It would be great!" Danny approved heartily. "Your dad would be thrilled to have you home, and we wouldn't always be away from each other."

Alex laughed at his response, feeling a lightening sense of relief. She knew that he had always loved Tennessee and he always would, but a part of her deep down had wondered if he'd want her there with him when this was all over. "I haven't decided anything yet, so don't get too excited," she said playfully. "I don't know what I want to do. It was just something I was thinking about."

"I'd love it if you moved to Tennessee," he told her softly, "but even if you didn't, we'd still work things out, no matter what."

She smiled at him, knowing that he was right. They would figure out how to be together, even if the world was against them. Just like Rafe and Evelyn or Hayley and Levi. She finally had what they had, and she knew what it felt like to really need another person. She tilted her head up towards his and he kissed her gently, wrapping his arms around her.

They were so caught up in each other that neither one of them heard the approaching footsteps or noticed when someone was only a few feet away from them. "What the hell is going on here?" a loud, angry male voice demanded. "Get your hands off her!"

"Rafe!" Alex gasped, pulling away from Danny so quickly that she slipped on the rock and would have tumbled to the ground if Danny hadn't reached out to grab her.

"Don't you touch her!" Rafe snarled.

"Would you rather me fall?" she asked, clinging to Danny's hand and still trying to regain her balance.

Rafe ignored the question, glaring deadly daggers at his best friend. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled. "How long has this been going on? Is this what you thought I meant when I told you to look after her while I was gone?"

"Rafe, calm down," she coaxed as Danny helped her down onto the sand.

"Alex, stay out of this," Rafe barked.

"No," she shot back, surprising herself as much as either of them; Danny was pretty sure he could count the number of times she'd stood up to Rafe on his fingers. "I _won't_ stay out of it because I'm involved too, Rafe. Now calm down and let us explain."

"I just found out my so-called best friend thought looking out for my kid sister meant seducing her. How am I supposed to calm down?" he demanded angrily before turning on Danny. "What the hell were you thinking? She's my sister! Why did you have to go after _Alex_? Out of all the girls on this island who would go out with you, why her?"

"You sure know how to make a girl feel special, Rafe," she said sarcastically.

"I didn't seduce her," Danny began. "And it didn't start out like this…"

"How did it start out? You skipped the kissing and took her straight to bed?"

"Shut up," Danny growled, not willing to take that even from his best friend. "You know I would never do that."

"Well I thought you would never do this, but I guess I was wrong."

They were moving closer to each other, each man practically radiating with hostile testosterone, and Alex squirmed her way between them before the first punch could be thrown. The last thing she wanted to see was these two people fighting. "Rafe, come on. You're acting like he forced me to fall for him, and he didn't!" Alex cried.

"Fall for him?" Rafe repeated, spitting out the words like foul-tasting meat. "Fall for him? So now you've _fallen_ for him?"

"So now I'm allowed in on the conversation?" she shot back, knowing that it wasn't ladylike but unable to stop herself. She'd suspected that Rafe wouldn't like her seeing Danny, but she'd never thought he would react this badly. "If you'd just listen to us for a second, Rafe…"

"We didn't want you to find out this way," Danny added. "We were going to wait until you settled in before we told you. But… we're not doing anything wrong here, Rafe. No one was seduced. No one's being used. No one's going to get hurt."

"You're right. No one is going to get hurt because this is going to end right now," he stated firmly. "You are not going to touch her _ever _again."

Alex blanched, horrified at his words and the high-handed way he said them. "Do I have any say in this?"

"No."

"Rafe, you can't tell me what to do," she protested. "I'm not five years old anymore. I'm an adult, and I don't need your protection! Definitely not from your best friend."

"He's _not_ my best friend," Rafe said in a low voice. Danny looked like he'd been punched as Rafe went on. "No best friend would ever do something like this. I asked you to look out for her and make sure she was okay, not corrupt her. Did you do this with Evelyn, too?"

"Rafe, you're being an idiot," Alex pointed out harshly. "Of course you're best friends, and he would never touch your girl. He does one thing you don't agree with and you decide everything he's done for you in the last twenty-four years doesn't matter anymore? Are you going to disown me too because I wanted it to happen? Because I followed my heart instead of what you want me to do?"

"Alex—"

"No, I really want to know! When you went after Evelyn I was nothing but happy for you. How is this any different?"

"Alex, we aren't talking about this anymore."

"Like hell we aren't," she snapped. Both men gaped at her in surprise. They hadn't heard her swear since they were kids back in Tennessee, and her mother had washed her mouth out with soap. "I'm not done!"

"Alex, there are too many problems—"

"Work them out," she ordered, staring at her brother. "You two have been friends for longer than I've been alive. You love each other, look out for each other. Don't throw that away over _me._"

Evelyn came running down the beach, grinding to a stop when she saw the three of them together. Her heart sank when she saw the murderous glare in Rafe's eyes. "What's going on?" she asked hesitantly, though she already knew.

"Danny's been messing around with my sister," Rafe answered bitterly.

She frowned. "Rafe, don't say it like that. It's not like they have anything to be ashamed of."

"You knew?" he demanded, whirling his fury onto her. "You knew and you didn't tell me? You just played along?"

"I made her promise to keep it quiet," Alex said immediately, feeling like the world was crashing down around her. First she'd caused a rift between Danny and Rafe, and now she was about to ruin Evelyn's relationship, too? It was a nightmare. "Don't be mad at her."

"Don't be mad at Alex, either," Danny told him. "It's my fault."

"Danny." Alex laid a gentle hand on his arm and shook her head. She knew he was being a man and standing up for her, but at the moment she would much rather have him on speaking terms with his best friend. "Don't ruin your friendship standing up for me. It is not your fault."

"Yes, it is."

Rafe snorted. "Finally, some truth."

"No one asked you," Alex pointed out. "And you're wrong anyway. It wasn't like this was something we plotted to hurt you, Rafe. And I know it hurt you because I can see it in your eyes, and for that I'm sorry. We should have told you when you got here, but I was just… I was worried about how you'd take it, just getting back from war, and I was so happy to see you that I didn't want to argue."

"No one meant to hurt you, Rafe," Evelyn assured him, walking over to her boyfriend.

"Well then, everyone screwed up, huh?" he asked caustically before turning and walking away.

"Rafe!" Evelyn called after him. "Rafe, wait!" Distraught, she ran after him. "Rafe, please…"

He pulled back his arm when she reached for him. "Not now, Evelyn," he warned in a low voice.

The three of them were silent as they watched him walk up the beach alone in long, angry strides. Alex didn't dare move until he was out of sight, then she let out a low breath. "He came out here and saw us together on the rocks," she explained numbly when she caught sight of Evelyn's blank, shocked expression. "We thought he was supposed to be working."

"So did I," she said, sniffling. "But when I got in from shopping, Amy told me he'd come by looking for me because his time got pushed back until this afternoon. I came to warn you, but I guess I was too late."

Alex shook her head. "It's not your fault. We should have been more careful. Now we have to fix it."

Danny ran his hands up and down her arms, offering warmth and comfort. He couldn't stand to see her looking so miserable. "He'll forgive you, Alex."

"I know. He'll forgive me because I'm his sister and he's not the kind of guy who could really disown his sister. And he'll forgive Evelyn because all she did was do as I asked. I'm worried about you two. He thinks you betrayed him, Danny. I don't know how to fix what I did."

"You didn't do anything wrong," he told her. "Don't think you did. I regret how we handled the situation, but I will never regret you and me, Alex. No matter what happens, I won't regret it. Whatever Rafe and I have coming, I'll deal with it. Don't blame yourself for this mess."

"But it's my fault," she insisted. "I'm what's breaking up your friendship, and I have to fix it. I can't let this happen."

"I'm gonna give him some time to cool down and then I'll talk to him," Danny said, forcing a smile for her sake even though he felt nearly sick. "It'll be all right, okay?"

"I hope so." She sighed. "God, Ev, I'm so sorry you got dragged into this. We never meant for this to happen… we should have listened to you and just told him when he got here."

"Don't feel bad about it," Evelyn replied, hugging her. "If you'd told Rafe about it when he first got here he would probably have reacted the same way and been angry with me for letting you get together. He's shocked and upset, and just looking for ways to strike out. He'll calm down and then I can apologize."

"But you shouldn't have to apologize," Alex argued. "You were only being a good friend to me."

Evelyn smiled at her. "Well, we're friends forever, right?"

"Always," Alex replied with a smile, remembering when they'd said those exact words for the first time. It was when she was fifteen, a few years after she had moved to Massachusetts. They'd been friends from day one of knowing each other, and Alex really believed nothing would change that.

"Let's go back to the house," Evelyn suggested. "We can get cleaned up and rest. I think we could all use some calm after this morning."

"Yeah, I guess so," Alex echoed with a worried glance back at Danny, who still wore that sad smile. The three of them made a pitiful procession back to the house, all too lost in thought to bother with conversation.

With each step she took, Alex let out a silent prayer. _Please, Rafe, please get over this… don't ruin your friendship over me. Danny needs you… and you need him._

* * *

Alex intended to listen to Danny and Evelyn when they suggested giving Rafe time to cool off after their argument. She spent the morning at home, worrying about the mess she'd made of her relationships, and when Danny left and Evelyn went to lie down in their room, Alex told herself that she would clean up a little around the house and then maybe try to rest.

She managed to tidy up the living room before she left, her legs carrying her almost against her will toward Rafe's workplace. A part of her said that it might not be the best idea, but she couldn't leave things the way they were, and feared that if she let Danny talk to him first, words would be exchanged that could never be forgotten.

It didn't take long for her to find her brother, working on his plane with a few other guys. She could tell just from his posture that he was still in a foul mood, but she steeled herself and approached the plane, stopping just a few feet away. "I need to talk to you."

Rafe glanced down at her, acutely aware of the curious glances that the rest of the crew was giving them. They'd been looking at him that way since he stalked onto the runway and started barking orders, but for some reason it made him even more annoyed for them to see the cause of his bad mood. "Now's not a good time, Alex."

He expected her to murmur her understanding and leave, but she didn't. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest—an instinctively defensive move—and planted her heeled feet like she was getting ready for a fight. "I wasn't really asking. I _need _to talk to you."

Rafe sighed, already feeling a headache coming on, and looked at his mechanics. "Can you guys give us a minute?"

Alex smiled at them hopefully, her eyes bright and pleading, and there was no way they were going to say no.

"Yeah, sure. We'll just go… away."

"Thank you." She waited while they climbed off the plane, collecting loose tools as they went, and started off into the hangar to give them privacy. When she was certain she wouldn't be overheard, she looked up at her brother and frowned. "You're overreacting."

Immediately, he felt his temper flare to life again. "You think I'm overreacting? You want to call those men back in here and ask them how they'd act if they were in my place? I promise you, they'd be ready to kick Danny's scrawny ass, too."

She made a face and willed herself not to react to the insult. "There's no reason for you to be so upset," she said reasonably. "You love me. You love Danny. Why does our being together bother you so much?"

"He had no right to touch you," he growled furiously. "You're my little sister. He promised me he'd look out for you."

"Rafe, he _does _look out for me. We haven't been together for very long, but he's actually a very good boyfriend—protective, and sweet," she informed him with a little smile.

Rafe rolled his eyes.

She rolled hers right back, seeing that speaking with her emotions might not be the right way to approach the conversation. "You know Danny. He doesn't jump into anything without thinking it to death, and he's not flighty. Our relationship isn't just something to pass the time, not for him and not for me."

"How can you even want to be with him? He's like a brother to us, Alex."

"He's like a brother to _you,_" she corrected gently. "He's not that for me, Rafe. Maybe he was once, a long time ago, but I haven't seen him that way since I was at least ten. We're not kids anymore."

He ground his teeth. "You're still my little sister."

"I know, but I don't need you to protect me all the time, Rafe, certainly not from Danny. This isn't like when I was twelve and you threatened to break Tom Morten's legs for trying to walk me home every day after school."

"You knew about that?"

"Of course I knew about that," she said with a laugh. "And maybe I even needed you to look out for me then, but this is different. Who was right beside you then, ready to help you hurt that kid if he so much as touched me?"

His expression mutinous, Rafe remained silent.

"Danny," she filled in, determined to speak her mind no matter how uncooperative he was. "He's not someone you need to protect me from, Rafe."

"You can't know that. Any guy who'd go after his best friend's family while he was gone—"

"Best man you know."

He stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Best man you know," she repeated. "You've said that about Danny more times than I can count. What makes you think it's not true anymore?"

Frustrated, by his own stupid words and by her resolve to fight this out, Rafe shook his head. "Things change when women get involved. A decent guy can show he's nothing but a dirty coward." He swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair. "He didn't even have the courage to punch me in the face, he had to stab me in the back from seven thousand miles away."

"It wasn't like that at all. Look, Rafe, I know that it was nothing compared to the horrors you were going through, but missing you, worrying about you, wondering if you would ever come back… it hurt so much that I was drowning in it," she told him, her eyes locked on his. "Danny kept me afloat. If he hadn't been here with me…"

"So now I guess it's my own damn fault that you two were messin' around behind my back?" Rafe demanded. "I go off to fight and should've expected you to comfort each other, is that it?"

"It's not your _fault, _Rafe. It's no one's _fault,_" she cried in exasperation, "but you know what? Maybe you have a point. I understand why you left, I even respect you for it, but you did leave us behind and you did make sure Danny couldn't go with you."

"Sure as hell regret that now," he shot back, before he could think about the words.

Alex froze, her eyes narrowing. "I can't believe you'd say that."

"I can't accept you being with him," he stated coldly. "And I'm sure as hell not his friend anymore."

Had nothing she'd said sunk through to him? "Don't make me choose between you two, Rafe," she pleaded quietly.

He straightened like his spine had turned to stone. "Why, Alex? Would you choose him?"

She was silent for a long moment, her face pained, and he wished that he could pull the words back inside him, erase them as though they'd never been said. But he couldn't, and because he couldn't, he needed to hear the answer.

Finally, she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she admitted, "but if you force me to make that decision—if you make me break my own heart—I'll never forgive you. Even if I do choose you." She turned and walked away, her shoulders hunched in disappointment, and all Rafe could do was stare after her.

They were the ones who'd betrayed his trust when he was off at war, so why was everyone acting like he was the bad guy?

* * *

The bar was just starting to get crowded when Danny arrived, the noise of talk and laughter filling the air. There was a pit of nerves in his stomach when he walked in the door, and it only intensified when he caught sight of Rafe sitting at a table with some of the guys—Army pilots Danny recognized and Navy men he didn't. Even if there hadn't been a cluster of empty bottles on the table, Danny would have known from Rafe's eyes and the way he sat that his friend was well on his way to being wasted.

Apparently he wasn't too drunk to notice Danny, though, because he sat up a little straighter and nudged the stranger in the seat next to him as Danny approached.

"And here's Danny, a friend so good that he had to take special care of my little sister when I was at war." He raised a glass of scotch in a mocking salute and drained it.

"Rafe, we need to talk about this."

"What, you want to tell me about your relationship with my kid sister?" he scoffed. "I don't wanna hear it, Danny. I don't want to hear a thing you did to her. It might make me have to hurt you."

Danny started to walk away, knowing that he wouldn't get anywhere with Rafe in his current condition. "You're a rotten drunk, Rafe, you always have been."

"And you're a lousy friend, but that's a new development," he threw back, swiveling in his seat to keep an eye on him. "And where are you off to now, huh? You're gonna go back to her? Are you?" He got out of his seat, swaying a bit from the alcohol, but steadied himself quickly. Even drunk, pilots had excellent balance. "Don't you dare! Don't you touch her! Don't even look at her!"

Danny turned back towards Rafe, ready to argue that he had no right to forbid him or Alex from seeing anyone, but he hadn't even opened his mouth before Rafe's punch landed across his cheek. The impact snapped his head back, and he wasn't sure which was worse: the sting from the knuckles or the fact that it was his best friend who'd done the hitting.

Probably the latter.

Logic abandoned him and he ran at Rafe, fists flying in retaliation. Soon they were fighting all out, and even the bulky Navy men who had come in for a drink or two after a day's work couldn't pull them apart. In the excitement, smaller fights began to break out between men who'd, only moments before, had absolutely nothing against one another.

Vaguely, Danny heard Goose's voice above the scuffling noise, yelling that the owner had called the MPs and they'd all better get out. Grabbing Rafe by the collar, Danny dragged him outside in the middle of dozens of fleeing soldiers. "Come on, Rafe. We get caught and we're in a lot of shit," he muttered as he ran towards his car.

They both hopped in the car and Danny took off, not really paying attention to where he was going as long as it was away from the club. When he reached a flat clearing, away from the city and the lights, he pulled over and shut off the engine.

Rafe, bleeding from a cut above his eye and rubbing a sore jaw, glared at him. "Why are we stopped here?"

"Because we need to talk, and you won't do it unless I get you somewhere where you have no choice," Danny answered honestly. He half expected another punch to be thrown at him, and considered it a good sign when it didn't come. "Rafe, I really didn't mean for any of this to happen. I wasn't looking for anything more than a friendship with Alex. It just happened, I swear."

"She's my little _sister_," Rafe said gruffly. "You know how much I care about her, Danny. You know how protective of her I am."

"I know, and I wish I could say that I'm sorry it happened, but I can't," he declared apologetically. "I just can't, Rafe."

"Why not?" he asked, his tone bitingly bitter. "Aren't you trying to make things all _better_?"

"I'm trying to explain this situation to you," he corrected. "I can't make you forgive me. Rafe, I can't say I regret any of this because I'm in love with your sister. I'm not just messin' with her and I would never hurt her. I love her."

Rafe stared at Danny for a minute, trying to process this new information. He'd never heard Danny say those words about a girl, not even once. The fact was, Danny had rarely been in relationships, and never in something serious; that was a part of what had shocked—and worried—Rafe about seeing him with Alex. "You're in love with my sister?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry if it bothers you, but I can't help it," Danny tried to explain. "You know Alex, Rafe. There's just something about her that… it gets under your skin and grabs hold of you."

"If you hurt her—"

"I won't," Danny promised.

Rafe sighed. He'd heard that tone before a thousand times. Danny was serious. "Does she love you?"

Danny's heart jumped just at the thought. "I wish I could say yes, but I don't know. Maybe one day she will."

"I hate to ask this for fear I might have to strangle you, Danny, and she probably will strangle me if she ever hears I asked, but I need to know. You never… you didn't… sleep with her, did you?" He had to choke the words out, not even wanting to _think _about it.

"Rafe!" The horror on his face was matched in his voice.

"Did you?"

"No!" Then, guiltily, he added, "Well, _sleep, _yes. Just sleep."

Rafe eyed him suspiciously before breathing a sigh of relief. "Okay. I had to make sure."

Danny shook his head, thinking that this had to be the most awkward talk he'd had in all of his twenty-four years. "Are we going to be okay?"

"I guess I need to talk to Alex," Rafe stalled, because he was feeling so betrayed and angry that he couldn't just let it go, even when his head was telling him it was the right thing to do. "She's pretty mad at me right about now."

"I don't think she's mad at you. She's just worried," Danny told him.

Rafe sighed, thinking back to the talk he'd had with her earlier. He kept picturing how beaten down she'd looked as she left the runway, like a little child whose faith in a hero had been completely destroyed.

"Keeping this quiet didn't exactly sit right with us," Danny went on. "But we didn't know whether or not to tell you. It's a lot to take, after everything."

"You weren't trying to hurt me, I get it."

"I'm sorry we did."

"I know. We'll see how things go." Both of them stared up at the dark sky, silently gazing into the night and wondering what was in store for them.


	8. loss of a friend

**A/N:** Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed. I have a case of writer's block(don't you hate it when that happens?) so this is taking longer than it usually would… sorry about that. The reviews help me think, though, so please keep them coming! Anyway, here's part eight!

* * *

The women didn't sleep that night. They kept expecting someone—Danny or Rafe, or maybe even both of them together—to come by and tell them that they'd worked everything out. Even if Danny hadn't been able to talk sense into Rafe, Alex had thought that he would come by to see her. Each minute that passed without footsteps on the porch and a knock on the door made them more nervous.

Finally needing something to do at around three in the morning, Evelyn took out her diary and started re-reading the carefully organized letters that she stored inside—the letters that Rafe had sent her during his time in Britain. Those clumsily written words of love reassured her as even the other girls couldn't, reminding her that they'd survived much worse than such a pointless fight.

Alex sat on her bunk on the other side of the room staring down at the pages of a book, but she didn't see the words. Rafe's question from that afternoon kept repeating itself in her mind. _Would you choose him?_ Just thinking about it made her feel cold inside.

It didn't seem possible that less than a year ago she'd been looking for them in a crowded military medical center, worried that she might have trouble recognizing them. Danny was such a big part of her life now that she couldn't imagine him not being in it. His absence would be like a black hole in the center of her heart, and how could someone live with something like that?

But Rafe was her _brother_, and she loved him. She couldn't count the number of hours she'd spent praying for his safe return and dreaming about the things they could do together when the war was done and life went back to normal. She'd promised herself that there would never be another eight-year period of unsatisfying letters as their only contact, so how could she just walk away from him now that he was back and all that she'd imagined was finally possible?

If it came down to a choice, Danny or Rafe, she had no clue what she'd do. Which was better to go on without, her heart or the air that she breathed? She was smart enough to realize that either choice meant she wouldn't really be _living_.

The early light of dawn came as a relief, even if it didn't bring the answers that Evelyn and Alex were so desperate for. They were both scheduled to work the morning shift at the hospital and they looked forward to the distraction, even if it did turn out to be a day of soothing sunburned skin and reorganizing supplies.

Alex was in front of the mirror pinning up her hair and silently despairing the circles under her eyes when she first heard the noise coming from outside—a loud rumble in the distance. Frowning, she secured the last strands and walked out to the living room. "What is going on out there?"

Hayley, still dressed in her night clothes because it was her day off, glanced out the window. "There are lots of planes flying around out there," she announced, her voice tinged with confusion.

"What? Why would they be doing practice runs this early on a Sunday morning? It's barely even eight," Amy complained, putting on her shoes and going outside to have a look. A second later, they heard her gasp. "Girls… those aren't our planes!"

Alex and Evelyn were running for the front door to see what she was walking about when there was another noise, this one loud enough to make the first seem like a pin falling to the floor. It took one second for Amy, Alex, and Evelyn, all crowded in the doorway, to take in the planes in the air, the explosions that rocked the earth beneath them, and the smoke on the bay.

Evelyn, always the calmest in emergencies, found her voice first. "Everyone, get to the hospital!" she yelled. "Now! Hurry! We have to get to the hospital!"

Hayley jumped up from the couch in a panic. "I'm not dressed."

Alex rushed back into the house and grabbed the first thing she could find—one of Wanda's robes. "We don't have time. Put this on," she instructed, simultaneously shoving the garment into her hands and pulling her out of the house. "We have to go."

Hayley slipped on the robe as they ran, screaming warnings into the nearby housing units as they went. Like them, people were beginning to understand what was happening, and came tumbling out of their homes in terror. Running in heels was no easy feat and they stumbled along the way. Planes—unfamiliar planes, visibly different from the P-40s Alex was familiar with thanks to Danny and Rafe—zoomed by above them like the chasing specter of death.

"Almost there!" Hayley screamed breathlessly as they neared the hospital, hoping against all hope that they could get inside that building before the planes got to them. All around them was destruction—fountains that had been blown to bits, buildings that had collapsed, trees that had caught fire.

The sound of rapid gunfire in her ears made Alex turn and look back for only a second and she fell hard, tripping over rubble.

Evelyn knelt hurriedly, already reaching down to help her rise. "Come on, Alex. Get up."

Alex winced, glancing down just long enough to see the blood matting her ripped stockings; all the little concrete bits had cut into her legs. "Just go!" she ordered, struggling to get up.

"I'm not leaving you," Evelyn breathed stubbornly, yanking Alex up and forcing her back into a run. The gunfire was closer now. "Friends forever, right?"

"Always," Alex replied.

They reached the hospital at full speed and didn't slow when they'd passed the doors. Evelyn led the way, veering left toward the traction ward. Four men were laid up in beds, wounded during an automobile accident days ago. "Cut the lines! Get them away from the windows!"

Alex rushed to the drawers of supplies, grateful that there had been enough free time lately to have things stocked up, and pulled out razor blades. She handed them to the nurses who had followed Evelyn, automatically gravitating toward a leader, and together they cut through the cords that held the patients into their beds. As soon as they'd been moved away from the windows, the women grabbed the mattresses and dragged them over to use them as protective cover.

The patients had just been covered safely when an explosion from outside rocked the building, showering glass shards into the room. No one moved or even breathed for a long moment afterward, waiting to see if another bomb would drop and perhaps kill them all. When it stayed quiet, the nurses slowly pushed the mattresses away. There was glass everywhere, and chunks of shrapnel where the men had been only moments before, but no one had been hurt.

"What's happened?" one of the doctors asked, his voice shaking.

"I think we're about to enter the war," Evelyn answered honestly.

Alex brushed the glass from her skirt with trembling hands and silently willed herself to get it together. There was too much to do to fall apart now. "Come on, we need to get this place ready. The hospital is going to be swarming with injured people when the bombing and shooting stops."

Everyone hurried off to prepare space for the men that were already starting to approach with wounds as the bombing continued outside. They all knew that it was going to be a day unlike they'd ever seen or even trained for. Pearl Harbor wasn't prepared for the attack. Ships were sinking, burning, and exploding before they even knew what was happening, and it had just barely begun.

* * *

Danny woke up with the sun shining on his face to the sound of deafening explosions. Lying down in the front seat of his car, where he had fallen asleep while staring at the sky and talking to Rafe the night before, he mentally decided that beds were a whole lot more comfortable. Groaning at the pain in his neck, he rolled over. "Why do they have to practice so early on a Sunday?"

Rafe had spent the night stretched out in the back seat, and rubbed at his eyes sleepily as he sat up. As soon as he looked up and saw the planes, he did a double take. "Shit, Danny, those aren't our planes!"

"What?" Danny's head whipped up to look and he recognized the Japanese Zeroes immediately. "They're Japs!" He turned towards the harbor, ignoring the crick in his neck, and paled when he saw the sinking ships through the thick smoke. "Oh shit."

"Get me to a damn plane," Rafe ordered, hopping into the front seat and pounding on the dash with his fist for emphasis. Danny grabbed the keys and started the car, putting it in gear and slamming his foot down on the gas pedal.

He drove to the base like a man possessed, barely stopping on the tarmac before he and Rafe were jumping out and running for the hangar. There were already men all around them—men holding rifles, shooting at the planes that flew overhead and cursing the near futility of it.

Bullets were showering down on them, and men ran and danced their way across the airstrip in an effort to save themselves that would have looked comical under any other circumstances. But right then, if you were too slow or zig-zagged the wrong way you were dead.

Danny and Rafe made their way between the clusters of landed planes, but every single one was damaged or destroyed. "Damn it," Rafe muttered, still ducking under a wing as he thought. "I can't do a thing for us unless I'm in the air."

"We have to get to the car," Danny announced, cautiously peeking out his head to look around them.

"What? You don't even know if there still _is _a car!"

"Any better ideas?"

"No," Rafe admitted. "Let's go." They scrambled out and broke into a mad run for the car. Danny gunned the engine and roared off almost as soon as his butt hit the seat. "Where are we going?"

"An auxiliary field about ten minutes away from here," Danny yelled back over the sound of the enemy fire. "It probably hasn't been hit yet. I work on some of the planes there."

"We'll need help," Rafe pointed out.

"You're right… Red! Goose! Get in, now!" he yelled when he saw their friends ducking and firing up at the planes. He barely slowed the car, but neither man hesitated to hurtle into the backseat. "Hold on!" He executed a quick turn at full speed and silently gave thanks to the car's powerful engine and new tires.

By the time they reached the auxiliary field they'd picked up more than a few holes in the exterior of the car, but thankfully no one had been hit.

"I was here and checked 'em out yesterday, Danny," Red said as they all piled out of the car. "There are three in there. One's in no condition to fly anytime soon, one's good on fuel and ready to fly but low on ammunition, and the third needs some fuel."

"Get two ready and get us up," Danny replied simply, leading the way into the large storehouse.

The men started to work, going into the supplies and loading the planes with the ammunition and fuel that they would need. It didn't take long to finish prepping them, but to Danny and Rafe, itching to get into the air and make a difference, it felt like forever.

"You watch out for us from the ground," Danny told his friends as he climbed into one of the planes.

"You take care of yourselves up there and we'll shoot at any bastard that dare try to get you down," Goose replied loyally, a loaded rifle in his hands. "You know you'll be alone up there. I think these might be the only planes that we've got left."

"The Japs are leaving now that they've done their filth," Rafe answered as he closed the hatch on his plane. "And you guys are behind us."

"You bet we are," Goose agreed.

"Let's do it," Rafe encouraged, switching the buttons on the front panel and bringing the plane to life. "They'll regret this." With that he took off, his plane rolling along the badly paved runway and picking up speed.

Danny followed, ready for whatever the Japs could throw at him. He had a lot to fight for, and he wasn't going to let those damn Japs take him down.

* * *

The hospital was swamped with injured and dying men almost as soon as the attack ended. So many had been shot, burned, or involved in an explosion that the nurses literally had no place to put them all. Patients were taken into every available room, including storage spaces and the kitchen.

Alex, Evelyn, Amy, and Wanda tried to stay close to each other when they could. Hayley and Betty had somehow gotten separated from them, probably sent out to administer morphine to those that couldn't actually get into the hospital. For so many, death from their horrible wounds was inevitable. No one could help them once they reached a certain point.

Alex and Evelyn worked together steadily in one room, knowing that Wanda and Amy were only in the next one over. Even moving from one patient to the next had become difficult; in a room made to accommodate six to seven patients, almost thirty had been packed in.

"Evelyn, start marking the men according to what treatment they need," the doctor who'd been with them all morning instructed. "We need a way to organize the patients."

Evelyn was busy stitching up a gaping slash in a man's neck and nodded numbly, not even sparing a glance up from her work. Her fingers were quick and steady, revealing none of the fear and nervousness that swamped her. As soon as she was done, she went to do as the doctor had asked. _Keep busy, just keep moving…_ "I… I don't see a marker," she stuttered. She found one, but tried it and it came out dry. "There aren't any markers!"

Alex, trying to calm down a man as a doctor worked on getting a bullet out of his leg, let her eyes wander around the room. Everything that had been so orderly before was in chaos: trays overturned, drawers pulled open and left empty, stacks of towels and gauze fallen onto the blood-soaked floor so it was unusable. "Evelyn! Evelyn, use my lipstick. It's in the bag I left the other day, in the desk."

Evelyn got to the desk and dug desperately for the little tube. When she found it, she tossed the cap aside and started marking the patients' foreheads: M for morphine to ease the pain, C for critical so the doctor would know immediate attention was needed and… F for fatal. Those were the hardest for her.

She hadn't even finished with the people in that one room when the doctor approached her again. "There are too many people in here and they're still bringing others in. I need you and Alex to go outside and make sure that only those who still have a chance get inside."

Alex walked over, hearing what he'd said. "Doctor, we can't…" She simply wasn't up to playing God, deciding who would get medical attention and live, and who would die.

"You have to. Please. Go."

Evelyn and Alex both hated the idea, but they went outside together, Alex grabbing her spare tube of lipstick on the way.

"Are you holding up okay?" Evelyn asked her younger friend as they walked through the hall towards the entrance. She knew it was a stupid question as soon as she said it. Of course she wasn't okay; no one who'd seen what they'd seen was okay. "How are your legs?"

Alex glanced down dismissively. To be honest, she'd almost forgotten about her cut-up legs, and the sight of her dress covered in blood—the blood of so many people she couldn't count, some of which were dead by now—hurt more than any physical injury she had. "Just scratches. I'm fine."

Sensing the pain that couldn't be fixed by any ointment or bandage, Evelyn reached out to squeeze her hand.

They got to the entrance, and Evelyn turned to speak to the orderlies stationed at the doors. "Don't let anyone without a mark from us on their foreheads through."

The orderlies nodded and started trying to clear some room by the doors.

Alex and Evelyn made their way through the sea of men, marking foreheads, holding back tears, and always keeping a thought on where the other one was. Somewhere in their minds, both girls were worrying about whether or not they would see Danny and Rafe appear in the crowd of injured. Where were they now?

A man who was apparently still in good shape approached Alex, carrying a woman in his arms. All Alex could see was her reddish-brown hair, matted with blood, and the awful gash in her side. It looked very possibly fatal—deep, with the piece of shrapnel that had done the damage still visible in the wound. Without even thinking, Alex reached for her wrist to check for a pulse and found one, thready and weak but still there.

"I found her like this not too far away," the soldier explained. "I couldn't leave her there…"

"Thank you. Please just set her down and go see if you can find anyone else who will need our help. Thank you."

"Will do, ma'am," the man replied, easing her down on the ground and going back into the fray.

"Evelyn, I need your help," she called as she pushed the girl's hair out of her face, ready to check how responsive she was. When she saw Hayley wincing up at her, she gasped and tears filled her eyes. "Hayley? No… no," she choked out, shaking her head. "Oh God… Evelyn!"

Evelyn rushed over as soon as she heard the terrified scream. "Alex, what is it—Hayley?" She dropped to her knees beside her friends, hands fluttering for something to do. But she was an experienced nurse, and she knew after one glance at the wound that there was nothing she _could _do.

Hayley was shaking as Alex lifted her head into her lap, petting her hair like she'd do to soothe an upset child. She tried to smile at the familiar gesture. "I…I guess I wasn't… fast enough…"

"Hold on, honey, we're going to get you some help. I need a doctor over here!" Alex yelled, looking around desperately. "Don't you give up on us, all right? Hold on. You'll be okay." The tears that fell from her eyes as she stared at the pale face of her friend told a different story.

"I'm… not," Hayley got out weakly, her eyes fluttering open and closed. "I know… I'm not."

"No! You have to be. You can't leave us. You have to hold on and be strong… we'll get you in there right now. Someone get her inside!" she barked, searching for someone—anyone—in the crowd who could help.

"Alex… don't bother," Hayley panted, her eyes staring blankly up at her friends as they leaned over her. "I'm with… you two. It's better here…"

"No, Hayley, please don't talk like that," Evelyn begged, pushed beyond logic. Today, right now, she needed a miracle.

"I'm so cold…" Hayley muttered. "Tell Levi I love… him."

"Hayley? Hayley! No!" Alex wailed as Hayley's body grew still. "Please, Hayley, don't leave us." There was no response and she clung to the body on her lap desperately, not looking at the blank eyes that showed that her friend was gone.

"Alex…" Evelyn's voice was nothing more than a mournful whimper. "Alex, there's nothing we can do."

Alex let out a harsh sob and covered her face with her hands, knowing the truth in Evelyn's words. Hayley was gone, and no amount of grief or anger would make her come back. Still, she couldn't help staying there on the ground, holding her friend's body in her lap and weeping for so many lives lost, for a moment. It was all too much, and she didn't think she was strong enough to get through it.

Evelyn couldn't stand to watch, feeling like her heart was breaking. "Good bye, Hayley," she wept, and then walked away, trying to stop the flow of her tears.

Alex swiped at her cheeks with an angry hand and looked down at her friend. "I'm sorry, Hayley. I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears dripping down onto the lifeless face. "I should have gone out to help. I should've been the one to go." She brushed her hand down Hayley's eyelids, closing her eyes one final time, and pressed her lips onto her forehead.

Tears still streaming down her face, Alex got up and found one of the hospital workers. "Take her over there," she ordered in a voice void of emotion, motioning to the area where the dead had been placed. "Be careful with the body."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good-bye," Alex murmured to her friend as she was taken away. "I'll always remember you."


	9. after the attack

Alex knew that she had to keep working, so she forced herself to turn around and go back to her marking, but part of her heart was crushed in a way that drained some of her spirit. Hayley was dead, and she had no clue whether or not Danny and Rafe were still alive.

She and Evelyn marked men until their lipstick tubes were empty, and they went back inside to help with whatever procedures they could. They worked side-by-side for the next couple of hours, seeing so many wounds and smelling the scent of blood for so long that it began to feel like this hell was never-ending. Everything seemed to blend together and they operated on autopilot, so immersed in their work that they didn't even notice when Danny and Rafe found them and were standing right by their sides.

"Evelyn. Alex," Rafe called, watching the two exhausted women trudge around him and Danny as if they were roadblocks. "Hello?"

Evelyn looked up, her eyes wide and startled. Every piece of her focus had been concentrated on her patients and remaining calm for their sake, and she'd been the most successful by far of all the nurses, but now she felt her world tilt. "Rafe?" she asked softly, afraid that she was imagining things and when she blinked he would be gone. "You're okay?"

"I'm okay," he assured her, walking closer and pulling her into his embrace. She felt fragile, and so unbelievably precious, against him. "Are you?

Evelyn hugged him back, pressing close against his dirty shirt. "Oh Rafe… I was beginning to think you'd never come back…"

"Of course I came back. Are you all right?"

"I'm okay. It's just…" She shook her head and glanced up, and even though her eyes were rimmed with red, she didn't cry. She didn't let herself. "So much has happened…"

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered soothingly, rubbing her back. "It's okay now. It'll be okay."

Alex and Danny just watched each other for a second. He could see the anguish in her eyes and the way her shoulders slumped like they held too much weight. All she could see was that he was unharmed—dirty, his clothes torn at places, but still whole, still alive.

Slowly, she stretched a hand out to touch him. The second they made contact, just her fingers brushing up against his, she dissolved into tears. She'd thought that maybe she'd reached a numb place inside herself, but seeing Danny now, _finally, _brought feeling back with a vengeance.

Danny hurried to take her in his arms. "It's gonna be all right, Alex. Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

"No. But…today things happened that we can't fix." She shuddered and buried her face in his neck. He was covered in dirt and smelled heavily of smoke from outside, but she didn't think she'd ever been happier to have someone hold her. "People we can never replace died. So much happened that never should have been… and I was so worried you were gone."

"I'm right here, I'm not leaving you." Cradling her close, Danny looked around at the hospital and tried to remember how immaculately clean it had always been when he came by to visit Alex during her shifts. It was hard to believe it was even the same place. "Were you here when it happened?"

She shook her head. "At home, getting ready."

Rafe winced. "You and the girls are lucky you got here okay."

He knew he'd said something wrong immediately from the way Evelyn stiffened and seemed to hold on to him even tighter. He could hear his sister's sobs, see her body shaking with them, from where he stood. "Alex, what's wrong?"

Alex took a deep, shaky breath and pulled just far enough away from Danny to meet Rafe's eyes. "Hayley's gone," she admitted, tears pouring down her face. "She came in earlier… I tried but… I couldn't save her. She's gone."

Both men looked stricken by the news; Hayley had been a good friend to all of them, happy and full of life. "I'm so sorry…"

It was so easy to melt against Danny, to soak up the comfort after everything that had happened, that Alex let herself for a long moment before she pulled away. "I need to get back to work," she murmured, laying a hand on his dirty cheek. She hoped that touch could convey the words she couldn't say—above all else, how important he was to her.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" he asked.

"Blood. We need blood from anyone who can spare it," Alex answered. "Neither of you were hurt, right?" The question just came out naturally, but she already knew the answer. It had been the first thing she looked for when she saw them.

Rafe shook his head. "We're fine." Actually, it sounded like he and Danny were in better shape than the women.

"Okay, come this way," Alex beckoned, leading the way out of the room. Even when she had to navigate through the crowded halls, she didn't let go of Danny's hand.

There wasn't space in any of the rooms, so Rafe and Danny ended up sitting on folding chairs at the end of a hallway, blood flowing through tubes in their arms down into sterilized Coke bottles.

Suddenly, Danny frowned. "Alex, what happened?" From his seat on the chair, he had an easy view of the scrapes that covered the front of his girlfriend's legs. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," she insisted, pushing at him when he started to stand up. It was her tone more than the shove that made him stay in his chair.

"What happened?" he repeated.

His concern for her was sweet, but given the circumstances, completely unnecessary. Still, she could see that he wasn't going to stop until he had an answer, and reluctantly admitted, "I fell rushing to get here. Really, it's nothing."

Rafe leaned toward her. "You're bleeding. It's not nothing."

"Rafe, there are doctors performing amputations on hallway floors," she pointed out gently. "Don't worry about a couple of cuts."

"You had anyone look at them?" Rafe pressed.

Seeing that the men were in protective mode—and who could blame them, she supposed—Evelyn laid a hand over her boyfriend's. "I'll clean her cuts if you boys will stop fretting," she offered.

Alex's eyes widened. "Ev—"

"We're just waiting with them anyway," the older woman reasoned. She went to get some ointment and a few bandages—a much harder task than usual, because nothing was where it should have been anymore—and when she returned Danny had already urged Alex into a folding chair by his side, and she was picking at her wounds with a pair of tweezers.

Evelyn checked the scrapes and saw the foreign particles lodged in the cuts—bits of glass and gravel she'd picked up in the fall. She handed over the bandages and took over the job. "Where were you last night?" she asked as she worked.

Rafe and Danny exchanged a look. "We were talking things out," Rafe explained. "We sort of fell asleep in his car and didn't wake up until we heard the planes earlier."

Alex ran her fingers lightly over Danny's hand. "So did you bust up your knuckles talking things out, or did that happen today?"

Both men had the grace to look ashamed. "That was last night," Rafe mumbled.

Evelyn actually let out a short laugh as Alex rolled her eyes. "Where were you today?"

"Trying to find a plane to get into the sky so we could fight back," Danny replied.

"I'm glad you didn't find one," Evelyn sighed. "You both would've gotten yourselves killed. There were too many of them out there—some say three or four hundred."

"Actually, we found the planes and went up," Rafe admitted, and both girls froze to stare at them in shock. "We're fine. Played a little chicken with the Japs—they're not as good as me and Danny." He shared a smile with his friend, in that moment connected despite any personal drama that had happened between them. There were still things to be sorted out, but in the air—communicating through souls as much as the scratchy radio—both of them had been reminded how strong the bond of their friendship was.

"Wait—you played _chicken?_ With the _bombers?_" Alex demanded, her tired brain struggling to understand. She remembered Rafe writing to her about their training on a base in New Jersey, how they would play chicken in the planes and barely escape punishment by coming up with what he'd called "grade-A lies." It had scared her then, the thought of her brother and his best friend flying at each other at full speed and waiting until the exact last moment to turn away, and that had been when there was no one else in the sky.

"They didn't seem to get the game," Danny agreed with Rafe. "Crashed right into each other."

"You're both lucky you didn't mess up and get yourselves killed," Evelyn chided as she put down the tweezers and started disinfecting Alex's injuries so she could bandage them.

She barely noticed the sting. "I'm just glad it worked," she said in a soft voice. "Too many innocent people died today without any reason."

Before either of them could reply, a man approached them. He was wet and covered in soot, and judging by the way he moved, he was exhausted. "Are you hurt?" he asked of Danny and Rafe, who shook their heads. "When you're done in here, we could use you outside. Hundreds of men are trapped inside sinkin' ships, and we need all the help we can get to free 'em."

Rafe gritted his teeth. There wasn't much that sounded more like hell to him than being trapped in a sinking vessel, waiting for the water level to catch up with you. "We'll be right there."

The man nodded and moved on, looking for more help.

Alex started removing the needle from Danny's arm at once; the Coke bottle was nearly full anyway. "Promise me you'll be careful."

Danny squeezed her hand. "Promise."

He worked up a smile, too, and the familiarity of it—the squinty eyes, the slight gap in his teeth—warmed something in Alex that felt as if it had frozen over. She managed a half smile in return. "Okay then."

"You'll be okay here?" Rafe asked Evelyn, who had finished Alex's legs and removed the needle from his arm.

"Of course, we should get back to work anyway. Be safe." She kissed Rafe and left, ever conscious of the need to be a leader for the others around her. She would work hard and keep her composure, and hope they could as well.

Alex stood, glad to note that the light wrapping on her legs wasn't a nuisance, and picked up the Coke bottles. "Thank you for these. And good luck on the ship." Forcing herself to stand tall and not look back at them like a child reluctantly going off to school, she walked away.

"Think they're okay?" Rafe hissed, watching her leave.

Danny sighed and shook his head. "No, but they're gonna need time. Come on, we have to get those men out of that ship."

* * *

It was days before the bodies of the dead could be collected and honored the way they deserved. The tarmac of Hickham Field was covered with long, neat rows of coffins that had been draped with American flags. Mourning loved ones left things on the coffins as they paid their respect, decorating the empty space with pictures and flowers.

Standing straight in his dress uniform, Danny watched Alex approach Hayley's coffin and gently place a flower next to the framed picture Levi had put up. Beside her, Wanda cried openly and Levi stared down, stony-faced. Danny knew the other man well enough to understand that if he looked up, if he met any of their eyes and saw that ever-present combination of sorrow and sympathy, he'd break down.

Silently, Alex walked back to Danny and leaned into his side, as if the burden of her own weight had become hard to carry. No more than a few feet away, Red, Amy, Evelyn, and Rafe were gathered around Betty's coffin. She hadn't made it through the battle, either; she'd been caught twice in the stomach by enemy fire.

Evelyn stared down at Betty's coffin and felt the tears running down her cheeks, but chose to ignore them. It was still hard for her to believe that two of her best friends were gone, both of them so young and hopeful about the lives ahead of them. Betty, the free spirit who couldn't wait to leave home, hadn't even seen her eighteenth birthday.

Rafe felt his heart break for Red as he watched him struggle to compose himself, without much success. Red was a good guy, but he was horribly nervous and had never had much luck with the ladies before he met Betty, the golden-haired angel who looked past his blush and stutter. They'd started planning a life together after the war, and in the blink of an eye it had all been ripped away from them. "That could be me," Rafe realized with a start.

Evelyn heard his whispered statement and sighed. "It could be any of us." The truth of that frightened her as nothing else did. Days ago, life and death on Pearl Harbor had been nothing more than the luck of the draw—Rafe's good luck, Red's bad.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Rafe McCawley?" a man in uniform asked as he approached them. He was an Army Air Corps major.

Rafe frowned a little. "Yeah, that's me."

"And do you know where I can find Lieutenant Daniel Walker?"

Danny turned at the sound of his name, his eyes curious. "Right here."

The major nodded. "Colonel Doolittle wishes to see you both in his office. Please come with me."

Alex glanced up at Danny, worry written on her pale face.

"It's all right. It's probably nothing," he assured her with a small smile as he squeezed her hand. He was lying, but the way he saw it, there wasn't much else he could do. Doolittle never called men in for nothing.

Rafe released Evelyn with an encouraging smile and they both followed the major off the tarmac and to Colonel Doolittle's office, where the man left them.

Danny and Rafe exchanged salutes with their superior before he told them to sit down. "I've heard a few things about you, McCawley, Walker," Doolittle began. His expression gave nothing away.

"We can explain it, sir," Rafe replied nervously, thinking back to the fight at the bar and the damage their personal issues had caused.

"Explain what?" Doolittle asked.

Danny shifted a little in his seat, uncertain. "Whatever it was you heard, sir."

Doolittle chuckled; he'd always liked these cocky young pilots, with their well-spoken bullshit. "About you two flying in those hulushirts?" he asked pointedly, "Or the seven planes you shot down?" There was respect in his eyes when he looked at them, and that wasn't something he gave lightly. "You're both being awarded the Silver Star and promoted to Captain. You did well, but now I have a new challenge for you. Do you know what a top secret mission is?"

"Yes, sir. The type of mission where you get medals but they're sent to your families," Rafe offered, going right to the truth.

"A top secret mission is something that has never been done before," Doolittle corrected. "Only the greatest go and only the absolute best will come back. Are you two up to it?"

"I am," Rafe answered immediately.

"Count me in."

He nodded, having expected nothing less. "We go Stateside tomorrow," he announced, handing them each an envelope with their orders. Then, without any more fanfare, they were dismissed.

When they got back, Evelyn was still by Betty's coffin, standing with Red as he spoke to one of Betty's friends. Seeing them, she gave him a quick squeeze on the arm in silent support before excusing herself from the conversation.

"What happened?" she asked quickly, not bothering to pretend that a thousand scenarios, most of them awful, hadn't run through her mind since they walked away.

Rafe knew that the truth was probably one of the worst possible things in her mind, and decided to wait until they were alone to explain it. "We'll talk about it later. Don't worry, everything's fine," he assured her. He glanced around quickly. "Where'd Alex go?"

"Oh! She needed to get away from this for a while. Danny, she asked me to tell you that she went to 'your spot.' She said that you would know what that meant," she reported.

"Thanks, Evelyn. I'll see you two later." He quickly left them.

"What is it?" Evelyn asked softly, reaching up and turning his face towards hers when he looked away. "Rafe, what happened? Tell me."

"Not in here," he coaxed, leading her away. Evelyn cast a last look at Betty and Hayley's coffins, then followed him.

When they'd put a little distance between themselves and the field, she pulled him to a stop. "Rafe, please, just tell me what's going on," she pleaded. "What did Doolittle say to you?"

"He talked about what we did," Rafe began. "You know, goin' out and chasing after the Japs. He wasn't mad or anything. Actually, we're getting promoted… and Danny and I are going away."

Evelyn stared at him, any sign of relief quickly vanquished by fear. "What?"

He wished that he could explain it, but even he didn't know anything about the mission except that it was top secret, and those words didn't exactly inspire confidence in anyone who knew what they meant. "We got new orders, Evelyn. We're leaving tomorrow."

"What? What orders?"

"The secret kind," he admitted.

She paled. "The dangerous kind." When he didn't answer one way or another, she pressed, "That's what secret means, right? Suicide mission?"

"Evelyn… it won't be like that."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I know that you're a great pilot, but Rafe…"

"Evelyn. Please don't be upset about this," he implored. "You know I have to go on this assignment. Whatever it is, it has to have something to do with gettin' revenge for everyone lying in those coffins back there. If I have a chance to do that, don't I owe it to them—to Betty and Hayley?"

She closed her eyes against the horrible pain that came with realizing he was right. After seeing firsthand the physical damage done to thousands of men, she of all people knew that the Japanese had to pay for what they'd done. She just didn't want to lose Rafe in that process. Waiting for him to return from Britain had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done; she didn't look forward to doing it again.

And this time Danny would be going, too. Even as she was relieved to know that someone would have Rafe's back unconditionally, Evelyn felt a rush of sympathy for Alex. She had been through so much in her young life and while Rafe had been away, Danny had been her support, the thing holding her together. With both of them gone, Evelyn feared that she and Alex would not be strong enough to stay completely sane.

"You have to go," she agreed reluctantly. "I just wish things were different."

"Don't even worry about us. We'll be back. We'll be fine."

"I'm going to worry about you."

He smiled at her. "I know. You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

She chuckled and went willingly into his arms, listening to the sound of his heartbeat through his uniform. She prayed that nothing would happen to make that heart stop. "What am I going to do if you don't come back to me?" she asked softly.

Rafe considered that seriously, resting his head on top of hers. "Well, I guess you'll go back to Massachusetts with Alex and go on living like you were before we met."

"I could never just _erase_ everything we've been through," she protested.

"You don't have to. I don't want you to," he promised. "But I do want you to go on living if something happens to me."

"It doesn't seem possible."

"Silly girl, haven't you learned? Anything's possible."

"Including you and Danny both coming back from this mission, healthy and whole?"

He hugged her tighter. "Yeah. Especially that."


	10. planning life

Alex was sitting on the rocks staring out into the ocean when Danny walked up. She'd changed from her uniform into a black patterned dress, her hair loose down her back, and there was something about her then, outlined against the water, that was heartbreakingly beautiful. He worried for a moment over her blank expression—worried that maybe the war was affecting her as it had affected his father.

"What are you thinking about?" he called as he got closer.

She seemed startled by his voice, but the melancholy on her face disappeared when she looked at him. "You," she answered simply. "What happened with Doolittle? Did you get into trouble?"

Danny shook his head as he sat down next to her. "No, nothing like that… Alex, we're going away on a secret mission, me and Rafe," he informed her gently. "I don't know where to, or for how long. All I really know is that we fly out tomorrow."

She felt her throat close up, and wondered if it were possible for words to strangle someone. Medically it seemed ridiculous, but nothing else could explain this sudden sensation of being choked by absolutely nothing. "Oh," she managed to force out. "Okay."

Danny was stunned by her response. He'd been expecting more. He'd even been ready for more—anger or tears or a soft plea to stay. It was easier this way, her indifference letting him off the hook because he didn't seem to be causing her any pain by leaving, but he did wonder why she seemed to care so little when he loved her with all of his heart. It hurt, more than he'd thought it could. "It's a chance to make a difference, and I have to take it."

She forced herself to nod calmly. "I understand."

"Well, how do you feel about it?"

She whirled to look at him, and the emotions she'd been trying to hold back erupted like a volcano. "How do you think I feel about it?" she hissed. "The two most important men in my life are going away tomorrow on a dangerous mission to who-knows-where. I hate it, and I hate myself for feeling that way because I _know _this is bigger than us and the way I feel about you. You need to go, and no amount of screaming or crying or wishing is going to change that, but it still makes me feel like I'm dying inside."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I have to leave, and I'm sorry it hurts you—"

She shook her head, struggling to block out his words. "Let's not talk about it, Danny…"

"No, I want to say this," he insisted, his voice serious as his eyes met hers and held. "Leaving you is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"Danny—"

"But that's a good thing, don't you see? Because it means coming home to you when the mission is done will be the easiest thing I'll ever do."

She smiled weakly, her chin quivering. "I do like your logic."

He smiled back, wrapping an arm around her. "Schooling does pay off after all."

They were quiet for a while, enjoying the simple pleasure of company they would soon be deprived of. After a minute, Alex sighed. "I want to go with you and Rafe back to Tennessee," she blurted out. She'd been planning on easing into her announcement, but it just didn't happen.

"You mean that?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes. Rafe asked Evelyn if she would move out there and she said yes, but even if she hadn't, I'd still want to go." She shrugged, a little nervous. "People always talk about what home means. And I love my mom, that's why I went with her without throwing a fit when my parents divorced, but out there isn't where home is. It's in Tennessee, with Rafe. With you."

Aside from praying that he wouldn't laugh at her, she didn't know how he would respond to that. The way he leaned in close and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips made her relax again. "You're my home, too."

"Danny, what about Rafe? Do you think he'll have a problem with me moving back?"

"Of course not, Alex. He's wanted you back home ever since you left," he assured her. "He might not be thrilled about us right now, but it'll get better."

"You two are working things out?"

"He still wants to talk with you. He probably would've done it sooner, but with the attack… we haven't had time to think about much else. But that day, nothing between me and him seemed wrong," Danny told her. "Flying with him was just as easy as it's ever been."

"Then at least one good thing came from that day," Alex whispered bitterly.

He eyed her carefully, wondering if asking the questions running rampant in his mind would be helpful or seem like pushing. Finally, he just took a breath and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" What she'd intended to be a light, nonchalant question came out sounding forced.

Danny sighed. "Don't do that, not with me. Don't act like nothing's eating you up inside, because I know you better than that and I can see it in your eyes." She glanced away quickly, as if she could hide from him, and he shook his head. "The things you saw that day would be enough to haunt anyone, but keepin' them to yourself won't make 'em go away."

She cringed as the thoughts she'd tried to banish pushed their way to the forefront of her mind. "Hayley died in my arms, Danny, and I should have been able to help her. I'm a nurse, I'm trained to help people, but… I lost so many patients that day."

"That wasn't your fault. Every nurse and doctor in the hospital lost patients that day, Alex," he pointed out rationally. "The best doctors with the best equipment couldn't have saved most of those people once the damage was done. Some injuries just can't be healed, you know that. You did the best you could."

"My best wasn't good enough."

"Your best probably saved more than a hundred people—people that would have died without you," he countered. "Don't focus on the ones who were gone before they got to you."

"I can't help it," she confessed. "It's who I am, remember? The girl who's so crazy that she can't stop thinking about the what-ifs."

"It's not just you. Something like this happens, everyone starts thinking about what they could have done differently."

She looked up in surprise. "Even you?"

"Of course even me. Why wouldn't I?"

"You're one of two men who actually got into the air to fight back. You and Rafe took down seven planes."

He shrugged it off as if the accomplishments were nothing. "And if we'd gotten those planes up a little faster, how many could we have taken down? Eight? Ten? Too many of those bombers got away." He sincerely hoped that this upcoming mission would help remedy that, but he didn't say so aloud. "We all did what we could. There's no use looking back on it and beating ourselves up about what might have been."

She sighed, reluctantly admitting that he had a point. "All right. But for what it's worth, I'm proud of what you did, Danny."

He kissed the top of her head. "For what it's worth, I'm proud of what you did, too."


	11. the talk

The afternoon sun beat down on Alex as she walked up the steps of her house that afternoon, her stomach doing nervous flips. Danny was out saying goodbye to his squad before he left the next day, so she'd decided to take the time to clear things up with Rafe. It was important to her that there was nothing standing between them when he left, but even more important was his friendship with Danny.

She knew that they would need each other if both of them were going to make it home alive.

Red had told Alex that he'd seen Rafe heading to the house with Evelyn, and he'd been right; they were sitting together on the couch, heads close together in quiet conversation, when she opened the door and stepped inside. Both looked up when she entered.

"Hi, Alex," Evelyn greeted softly.

"Is something wrong?" Rafe asked, noticing the almost sick look on her face.

Alex shook her head. "No, I just came here to… Evelyn, can I talk to Rafe alone for a while?"

"Of course," Evelyn assured her friend. She leaned over to kiss Rafe's cheek, then got up and walked out after sending Alex an encouraging look.

Rafe fidgeted, suddenly as uncomfortable as her. The last time they'd had a real conversation was the day before the bombing, and they'd argued. "You doing okay?" he asked, a little awkwardly.

Alex bit her lip, wondering how such a simple question had become so hard to answer. She walked over to the couch and sat down beside him, and he sighed and tugged her into a hug. She clung to him for a second, waiting until she'd collected herself before pulling away. "I've been better. You?"

He smiled, but his eyes were sad. "Same."

"Can we talk about Danny?"

Rafe leaned back and ran a hand over his face. "I guess we have to, don't we?"

"Yes," she answered honestly, because it wasn't something he could ignore and hope would just go away.

"I need to ask a couple questions, Alex."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Why?" he inquired. "Why Danny?"

"When you think about it, it makes perfect sense," she began thoughtfully. "Danny and I both love you, Rafe. When you were gone, we were both so worried, but I was the real wreck. He listened to me ramble on about you for hours and told me stories about you two during training and distracted me when I got too anxious. He kept me from falling apart. And during that, we got closer."

Rafe cut in before she got into any of the details. "Do you love him?"

Alex smiled softly. "Yes. I've never been in love with anyone before. I tried, once, but it didn't work out."

"What was wrong with him?"

She laughed because it was so Rafe to automatically assume that it was the guy's fault. "On paper, nothing," she admitted. "Michael's handsome and kind, and he runs his father's shop in town. I liked him, but something was always missing." Honestly, she'd never gotten as much of a jolt from Michael's kisses as she got from simply seeing Danny smile, but she didn't say as much to Rafe. "With Danny, it's just… there."

"Does he know?"

"That I love him? I think so."

"Did you tell him?"

"Not straight-out," Alex confessed after a moment's thought. "But he must know, Rafe. I… I told him that I want to go back to Tennessee with him after this is all over. I hope you don't mind. I just can't imagine going back to Massachusetts after being with you and Danny again. I'd miss you both too much, and you're taking Evelyn…"

"You're not happy at home, are you?" Rafe asked suddenly.

Alex blinked at him, surprised. "What? Who told you that?" She wondered if Evelyn had let anything slip, or if Danny had said something about his suspicions—she knew he'd caught on to her feelings about her mother's home.

"No one," Rafe replied, "but I get this feeling whenever we talk about it. Is everything okay? Is mom okay?"

"Mom's fine."

"But…" he prodded.

"It's nothing, Rafe, I promise. Her husband just doesn't really like me."

Rafe scowled, frustrated by her vague answer. He'd never met his stepfather, and Alex never spoke of him. In fact, she'd written so little about him in her letters that sometimes Rafe forgot the man even existed. "What do you mean, he doesn't like you?"

His sister looked up at him with guarded eyes. "We're supposed to be talking about Danny," she reminded him, blatantly trying for a subject change.

"Answer me that one question and we'll go back to talking about you and Danny," Rafe promised. "But answer it honestly, Alex."

"He drinks, that's all," she answered reluctantly, trying to keep her voice light. "And when he does—"

"He hurts you?" Rafe demanded.

"No." She twisted her hands together and sighed; the lie didn't sit well with her. "Not a lot. It's nothing, okay?" she rushed on when she saw the anger cross his face. Already he was tensing up, his fists clenched in preparation to take on an opponent who was thousands of miles away. "He just yells a lot. He's only hit me a couple times, and he's never hurt mom—I've looked. It's not what you're thinking. This is nothing like Danny and his father, Rafe."

He ground his teeth against the helpless fury and tried not to think back to when they were kids. He'd seen Danny's old man do more than just hit him. He'd tried to break his son, and might have succeeded if Danny hadn't been so strong. The thought of anyone doing that to Alex made Rafe want to hit something. "Why the hell didn't you tell me? I would've gotten you out of there."

"I know you would have, but it's something I had to deal with myself. And before you ask, Danny doesn't know, and he doesn't need to."

He shook his head warily. "You should've told us."

"It's over now," she pointed out. "I don't live there anymore, and I don't intend to."

"If I ever meet that son of a bitch, I'll kill him."

"Then let's hope you two never have a reason to meet." Surprisingly, she really had put the past with her stepfather behind her. At the time she'd felt constantly scared of him, afraid that she would do something wrong and draw his animosity out, but knowing that she didn't have to return to it was like a balm over a persistent wound. She had much more important things to worry about in her life. "Now come on, back to Danny. Tell me what you think."

"Honestly, Alex, I still don't know."

"Do you remember the time when we were little and you and Danny were talking about how you wanted to become pilots when you grew up, and then one of you—I think it was him—asked me what I wanted to be?" Alex asked. She could see the memory of the conversation in his eyes. "Do you remember what I said?"

Rafe smiled as it came to him—it was simply so _young_. "Of course I do. We laughed at you for days. You said you wanted to be happy."

She smiled gently. "Well when I'm with Danny, that's exactly what I am."

He looked at his sister and saw that—despite the war and everything they'd seen fall apart around them—she did seem oddly peaceful. Not only that, but she wasn't the little girl he'd watched drive away in that old yellow station wagon. She was an adult, able to make her own decisions. And if she decided to be with Danny, well, who was he to stop her?

"You should tell him, you know."

Alex looked at her brother, obviously confused. "Tell him what?"

"That you love him," Rafe answered. "And while you're at it, tell him that I'll kill him if he ever hurts you."

"Tell him yourself," she shot back with a relieved smile. Strangely enough, if Rafe was threatening Danny then things were getting back to normal. If he really intended to go after him, he wouldn't stand around talking about it first. "I really don't want to ruin things between you. There's enough going on right now without best friends being at odds."

"We'll be fine," Rafe assured her, smiling a little. "Don't worry about it."

Alex leaned forward and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Rafe. You better do whatever this mission is and get back here to me and Evelyn, all right? Just come back here safe."

"I will. You and Evelyn take care of each other until we get back."

"We always do. You and Danny better do the same."

An unreadable look passed over Rafe's features, but he nodded his head and Alex was satisfied with that. She trusted her brother to keep his word. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," she told him as she backed out of the house. There was a smile on her face when she left, excited to find Danny. In fact, right then, she was just excited about the future.


	12. leaving... again

A/n: thank you to everyone who reviewed! Late merry christmas… yeah I'm a little slow. Okay, here's the story…

When Alex arrived back at the guys' barracks, she was disturbed to find Danny packing his bags. She stood there for a minute, just watching him—trying to memorize every little detail that made him who he was visually, from the way his hair stood up slightly to his exact height and his strong, broad shoulders. The thought that after the next day she might never see him again ate at her heart.

"Hey," she softly greeted as she walked up and hugged him from behind. She closed her eyes as she pressed her face gently into his back, breathing in the scent that was purely Danny and praying that he would always be around.

"Hi," he whispered in response, relaxing against her and playing with their fingers, lacing them together. "How'd it go with Rafe?"

"Fine," she murmured, not wanting to talk about her brother. "Almost done packing?"

He sighed deeply and released her hands. "Almost, yeah. But that can wait because I have something really important that I want to talk to you about." He turned around in her arms and his dark, intense eyes settled on hers before he lead her towards his bed.

"Danny, if this is about tomorrow I really would rather not talk about it," she began tiredly, running a hand through her hair as she sat down.

"I know, but Alex… we need to face facts," Danny gently pointed out, causing her to look away. He gently guided her face so that she had to look him in the eye. "Tomorrow I'm going away and I don't know if I'm ever going to see you again. I wish I could just say that I love you and want to spend my life with you and that would be enough to make it all come true, but it isn't. I honestly have no clue what's going to happen in these next few weeks."

Alex didn't like the serious expression on Danny's face—she knew what he was telling her, she really did, but it was just so much harder to hear it from him. She felt like she was drowning—she needed to lighten up the situation. "Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Walker?" she asked lightly, remembering what the other nurses had said about pilots using the risks of their dangerous positions in the military as pick up lines. "Trust me, Danny, you don't need to do it. I'm yours no matter what. I love you."

Danny grinned at her confession and leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "I love you too. Alex, I want to be with you forever. Lately, since we've been together, I've been the happiest I've ever been in my life—no matter what's happening. I'm happy because of you." He took a deep, nervous breath and kneeled before her, causing her eyes to widen as she realized what he was about to do—what a huge step he was about to make.

"Danny…"

"Alex," he began uncertainly, "will you marry me?" He looked up at her hopefully, his eyes shining with love. Still, it was obvious that he was frightened of rejection. He was putting himself in a very vulnerable situation, something he rarely did.

Alex stared at the wishful, boyish expression on Danny's face and thought about what he was offering her. A life with the man of her dreams—the man who she had fought to be with, who had put up with her when she was about to go crazy, who had proved his bravery and loyalty, who had loved her when she needed it most. He wasn't rich and couldn't offer her a fancy, luxurious lifestyle and that was just fine with her. She loved him.

She grinned at him and a small giggle escaped from her throat. "Yes… yes, Danny," she whispered before launching herself into his arms. The action caused him to lose his balance and they tumbled onto the floor in a joyous bundle of laughing and kissing.

"Yes?" Danny repeated against her lips.

Alex nodded, pressing her forehead against his lightly. "Yes. Of course yes, Danny." She leaned down to kiss him again and was surprised when he pulled back. She looked down at him inquisitively and allowed him to sit up, taking her with him. His eyes were once again nervous, maybe even a little embarrassed, and Alex had no clue as to why. "What's wrong?"

"I… I don't have a nice ring for you," he softly admitted, not meeting her eyes. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small box, quickly opening it and hesitantly showing it to her. "This will have to be it for now, but I'll get you a better one eventually."

Alex didn't even glance at the ring, she merely reached up and used her hands to gently guide his face back to hers for another kiss. "Danny, the ring doesn't matter to me. _You_ matter to me. As long as I get you, I'm happy."

"But Alex—"

"No buts," she cut him off, looking down at the ring. She smiled when she saw it—it was a simple silver band. Nothing special to anyone who just sort of saw it; not normally something that a person would go crazy over. But to Alex it was different. It was the ring that Danny proposed with—the symbol of the start of their lives together. She loved it—it was perfect. "And I love it, Danny."

"You deserve more," he told her. "I'm going to get you a better one when all this is done with."

"No you're not," she argued as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Yes I am," he stated firmly. 

"No," she laughed, finding the way he was acting amusing. When she thought about it, she really shouldn't have expected anything different from Danny. He only loved her, wanted the best for her. She felt the same way towards him. "I'm not going to let you take my ring, Danny."

"We'll see about that," he replied in a voice that let her know that he was plotting playfully in that complicated mind of his.

"Yes, we will," she agreed softly. "I wonder what Rafe's gonna say about this…"

Danny laughed, covering his face with his hands. "Oh God, Rafe… shit, he's gonna kill me."

Alex gently pulled his hands away. "No, he won't," she whispered. "If he was okay with us being together, he should be okay with this… and even if he isn't, we'll deal with it. We love each other, Danny. He'll see that." She looked at him and tried to smile. "What am I going to do when you're gone?" she asked softly.

"Think about what'll happen when I get back?" he suggested, trying to lighten her mood even the littlest bit. If he could get her to be happy, he was sure he could take his mind off of the possibility of never seeing her again to concentrate on her smile, her laugh, her everything.

She couldn't help but smile at the thought of their future. Ideas were already swirling around in her head—what their house would look like once she got done adding her own touches to it, what their wedding would be like, what their kids would be like. She and Danny settled down by each other and began idle chatter about what their lives together would hold, but the events of the next day still hung over them like a black cloud.

~*~

The sunrise the next morning was not a welcome occurrence. Alex, who was nestled against Danny's chest on the bed, saw the first rays of sunshine peaking in through the window and her eyes slowly closed, wishing that when she opened them she would see that it was still dark outside and that she still had time before her love would be pulled away from her.

Unfortunately, the light was only becoming stronger when she opened her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Danny tighter and he immediately knew why. "I need to go soon, Alex." He had to force himself to say the hated words.

"Not yet, please, not yet," she whimpered, mentally cursing the Japanese for what they had done, for making Danny and Rafe need to go away, for killing so many people… She listened to the strong, even beating of his heart and thought about their night together, which they'd spent talking about everything that could keep them feeling lighthearted. Now she felt anything but lighthearted.

The constant lull of the room was calming, but soon Danny knew he had to get up and get ready to leave. "It's time, Alex," he whispered to her, making himself untangle his body from hers and get up from the bed, putting some space between them so he wouldn't give in to her and back out. Every time he looked at her he wanted to, but he knew he would never be able to do it. He needed to go on the mission.

Alex watched him, not wanting to move from the bed. His things were basically packed already, so she knew that they had very little time together before he would get on a plane and fly away from her. She didn't say anything else until he was dressed in his uniform, looking amazingly handsome and serious and also ready for anything.

"Danny… I don't know how long you'll be gone," she started in a very quiet voice, "but I'll wait for you forever. My life is with you. So when you get up there, doing whatever you're going to do, don't worry about anything here, don't worry about me, don't worry about Evelyn. Just worry about getting back safely."

Danny crossed the room to her in two quick strides and sat down next to her, their hands finding each other and their fingers threading together. "I'm coming back for you, Alex. I promise," he swore seriously. "I don't even want to leave you. There's no way I'm letting anybody keep me away from you."

She smiled bravely and nodded, finally forcing herself to get up. "Then I guess we better go because you have a flight to catch," she stated, going to get ready.

The two walked to spot that the plane was departing from and saw that many of the other men going were there either saying goodbye to loved ones or getting onto the plane. They quickly scanned the crowd to find Evelyn and Rafe and went over to the hugging couple.

"Be careful, Rafe," Evelyn was saying quietly. "Just be careful."

"You better listen to her," Alex advised, announcing her presence to the couple before her eyes went over to Danny. "Both of you."

"Of course we will be," Rafe tried to assure them, but they both were so used to him that they knew he was only saying it for their sakes. They were all aware that sometimes no amount of safety or awareness could prevent disaster from entering a person's life.

"You boys better go," Evelyn softly told them, knowing that everything was hard enough on all of them without adding a long, drawn-out farewell to the mix. She pulled Rafe back into her arms as Danny did the same to Alex. "I love you, Rafe."

"I love you, too," he whispered back.

The couples broke apart and Alex hugged her brother, leaving Evelyn to hug Danny. "You better come back for her, Daniel Walker," Evelyn softly warned him. "She needs you."

"Yeah, almost as much as I need her," Danny laughed. "You take care of yourself, all right? And try to watch out for Alex for me?"

"Of course." Evelyn nodded firmly.

Alex stared up at her brother, seeing the worry in his eyes even as he tried to mask it. She'd said all she really needed to the day before, so there was really very little to be said. "Thank you."

He looked at her in confusion. "For what?" he asked.

"Everything," she replied simply. "Advice with Danny, for accepting us, for being yourself with me. Something happened last night that I hope you will be happy about, but I'm going to let your best friend tell you what it is."

Rafe still looked confused, but he nodded anyway. "Okay…"

"Go on," she urged, trying to keep herself from crying in front of them. She knew the tears would come, but she didn't want to worry Danny and Rafe. "Go get the mission over with and get your butt back here."

He smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am."

"You know I hate it when you say that to me, Rafe," she laughed, her eyes watering despite her hardest try to keep the tears back.

"I know," he replied easily. "I'll be seeing you."

"You better."

The couples had another moment together before Danny and Rafe knew that they had to go. They pulled back, whispered their love to their girls, and walked to the plane. Alex and Evelyn could only watch as the two got on the plane, their hearts with them.

"Oh Ev, I've got a really bad feeling about this," Alex sobbed softly, a few tears making their way down her face.

"They'll be all right, Alex," Evelyn declared, hoping she didn't sound as uncertain as she felt.

Alex looked at the plane which held just about everything she lived for and couldn't stop the feeling of dread from settling in her stomach. "I hope so, Ev. I really hope so."

~*~Please review to let me know what you think! Thanks! =)


	13. the mission

A/N: Hey everyone! I know it's been forever since I updated… sorry about that. I'm currently fighting writer's block and that's killing me. A huge thanks to Katherine for her advice and opinions! Well anyway, here's the next chapter. It deals with more of the factual stuff than my usual, but I thought it was important… okay, I'm done blabbering. Here's the story…

The pilots selected for the mission—which included Anthony, Goose, Red, and a few others that Danny and Rafe had met briefly before as well as some they had never seen—arrived at a training field later in the day. The flight had been full of quiet talk about where they were going, what they were going to do, and why they had been the chosen ones, but once they got to the base, things got down to business.

The men were all gathered together in front of Doolittle, who appeared to be running the operation himself, and a tall man who had already been there when the others arrived. When Doolittle asked for them to stand in a line facing him, they murmured quietly but did as he asked.

"You all know that you're here for a very special mission," Doolittle began in a straightforward, honest voice. "I won't lie to you. It's extremely dangerous. Take a look at the man beside you. Should you go on this mission, chances are that in the next six weeks either you or he will be dead." 

Danny looked to the man next to him, seeing that he was being examined in the same way by the guys, and silently prayed that what Doolittle said was just a precautionary warning to scare off the men who spooked easily. Somewhere inside of him, though, he knew better than to take the colonel's words lightly.

Doolittle gave them a brief moment to process this information before he continued, "Anyone who wishes to do it, not knowing what exactly but knowing its importance, step forward."

Simultaneously, the whole row moved forward. None of them expected anything different—they had all experienced the loss of Pearl Harbor, they all knew that since it was such an important mission, it had to be something big. Not only did no one want to miss out, they all believed that they needed to step forward and stand up for fallen comrades who never had the choice to say yes or no.

Doolittle took in the sight of brave men with watchful eyes and nodded to himself. "You men are going to have to do things never done before. Your grandmothers can take off in a B-25 with a mile of runway. You're going to have to learn to do it in 467 feet and fly like a fighter—30 feet off the ground." He turned to the man standing beside him. "Meet Jack Richards, from Navy Aviation. He's going to help you lighten the planes."

Rafe and Danny looked at each other around the stranger that stood between them. A 467 foot takeoff was definitely not something they were prepared to do, and they both knew that whatever else they were going to do was sure going to take a lot of work.

They spent the afternoon working on their planes with Jack yelling at them, "These are some fat ladies we got here, boys! We need skinny ladies!"

"Is he insane?" Danny murmured to Rafe after taking out some of the machinery that Jack had said was too heavy to stay in.

Rafe laughed and shrugged his shoulders at his friend, trusting that the man knew what he was doing even though he agreed with Danny. Making the planes lighter was fine and dandy for a 467 foot takeoff, but what good would they be in the air if there was nothing left inside of them?

When the planes were considered light enough, the pilots were allowed to break up and go to their rooms to rest. Danny, Rafe, Red, Anthony, and Goose, as well as a guy named Theo, were in their room unpacking when Rafe remembered what Alex had said to him earlier before he took off. He turned to Danny, a questioningly look in his eyes. "Hey, Danny, what did Alex mean earlier when she said she had something important happened last night that she wanted you to tell me about?"

Danny, caught off guard by the question, froze and dropped the photograph of Alex that was in his hand. He took his time in picking it up, trying to figure out the best way to tell his friend about his engagement. "Well, you see, last night Alex and I talked a lot about our future," he began, looking straight at Rafe even though he could feel the interested eyes of Red, Goose, Anthony, and even Theo on him.

Rafe's eyes narrowed slightly with suspicion when he began to see what Danny could be headed at. "And…?"

"And… well, Rafe, we're engaged," Danny announced, hoping that Rafe would understand that he loved Alex and wanted nothing but the best for her. A fight with his best friend was not something he needed, so before Rafe could respond he rushed on, "I know that you probably don't see this as the best decision, but it feels right, Rafe. And we won't rush into anything—I mean, we probably won't get married right after you and me get back anyway. We'll just wait a while and then—"

"Stop babbling, Danny," Rafe chuckled, finding the rambling pretty amusing but wanting to spare his friend the nervousness. Normally he might have been mad about this announcement, but he had seen the love in his little sister's eyes when she looked at Danny—it was almost more powerful than anything he'd seen before in his entire life. The only thing stronger was the love in Danny's eyes when he spoke of Alex, or even heard her name. That alone made it obvious that he would never treat Alex badly.

"Okay," he replied, trying to read in Rafe's eyes what he thought.

Rafe smiled, knowing that Danny had to be in love to babble more than he himself. "I've always thought of you like a brother. I guess this'll just make it real."

Danny sighed with relief, a grin taking over his face. "So you're okay with it?"

The older boy nodded after a moment's consideration. "You're what she wants, Danny. And I guess you were right before—who better to take care of my little sister than my best friend?"

Anthony, who had been quiet up until then to see what was going to happen between the two, jumped up from his bunk grinning. "You and Alex are gettin' hitched? That's great, Danny!"

"Yeah, congratulations," Red threw in with a smile.

Rafe looked at Danny and waited until he caught his eye to say, "I know you two will be real happy together," wanting to make sure that his friend knew that it was how he felt. He knew that Danny was as concerned about what he thought of the couple as Alex was. As long as the friends stayed together, they could take on anything life threw at them.

The next day was the start of official training, when the pilots were expected to start trying to reach the goals set for them by Doolittle. It wasn't easy—no one could do it, not even Rafe. The guys tried and failed again and again to the point where they were going crazy because of it. More stuff was taken from the planes to make them lighter and easier to get into the air, but still it seemed to be an unbeatable challenge that they had to spend many, many days on.

At night Rafe and Danny wrote letters to Evelyn and Alex, making sure to carefully watch what they wrote because they would be read before they were sent to make sure no one was leaking information. It didn't matter much, though—they only wanted to tell the girls that they were safe and still thought about them all the time. Somehow they were sure that thousands of miles away in Pearl Harbor, they were being thought of as well.

~*~

About a month later, the men in training had managed to successfully do the takeoff that many had believed was impossible and they had moved from the training base to the USS Hornet. Their normal routine of days, usually filled with training, was interrupted when a meeting was called and the men all gathered in a briefing room with Doolittle.

Danny's heart was in his throat as he sat next to Rafe in the room, knowing that something huge was going on. He wasn't a stupid man—he knew that their move to the Hornet meant something significant was going to happen. The only thing that worried him was that the big mission would soon be done with, leaving him free to go see his love… or never be able to see her again.

Alex was on Danny's mind whenever he had time to think of anything that didn't relate to training, and sometimes even when he didn't. The few pictures that he had of her did nothing to fill his need for her. Her laugh haunted his dreams, the silky soft texture of her hair and skin remained in his mind when he laid down to bed at night, and her sometimes he swore he could hear her voice when he was working. It was frustrating.

Rafe snuck a look at his friend, who seemed somewhat less spacey than usual because of the meeting. He knew of how often Danny thought of his sister. Maybe even more often than he thought of Evelyn. In any case, he was just glad that soon the waiting would be over, one way or another.

Doolittle stood at the front of the room, his usual commanding presence quieting the pilots without having to ask for silence. "You men have been very patient with this mission," he began. "Now I'll let you know what we're doing. We're going to go to Tokyo… and bomb it."

There were a number of whoops throughout the small room as the men heard Doolittle's words, but Danny and Rafe just sat there, half shocked, half pleased, and definitely determined. So revenge might be theirs… and they had a lot to get back at those Japs for.

"We're going to take off from this carrier 400 miles from the coast," Doolittle went on when the original reaction had quieted. "We're going straight to the heart of those bastards, hit them hard, and get out of there. Now, the department wanted me to supervise this operation and be on the carrier when it went home. But I'm not going to do that. I won't send you, who I've worked with and learned to expect, out there into danger while I sit back safely. I'll be leading the mission."

This also brought about mixed reactions. Danny and Rafe looked at each other in surprise and the expressions on their faces clearly read, "This is worse than we expected." A few clapped because they were proud to be a part of a mission lead by such a man, and others were stunned into silence.

One of the guys made a coughing noise as he half-raised his hand. "I have a question. Is it even possible to land on a carrier?" he asked, getting the question that had been on his mind for a while out in the open.

"It doesn't matter," Doolittle answered. "The carrier is heading back as soon as we've departed." Everyone stared at him in confusion. What he said next only added to the surprise of the young men in the room. "I have a phrase I want you all to remember. It means 'I am an American'—in Chinese."

Danny and Rafe turned to look at each other again. Well, the mission sounded truly… interesting.

~*~ Please review! It really helps me write, plus I want to know if you guys like where this is going. Thanks!


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